About this episode

The episode discusses the effectiveness of Article VI of the 1963 Michigan Constitution regarding the judiciary and highlights key reform opportunities.

In episode 8 of a series previewing what a constitutional convention (con-con) - a question on the November 2026 ballot - might address, hosts Guy Gordon and Eric Lupher of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan discuss Article VI - Judicial Branch. Michigan voters are asked every 16 years whether to hold a con-con. The overall takeaway: Article VI works reasonably well structurally, but judicial selection, the partisan/nonpartisan fiction, and especially court funding are issues a convention would almost certainly need to address. The 1963 Constitution Did Well Here The framers get high marks for creating a unified "one court of justice" — a clear hierarchy from district courts up through the Court of Appeals (which didn't exist before 1963) to the Supreme Court, with the Supreme Court given real administrative authority over lower courts. It was a major improvement over the previous patchwork with no clear appeals process. Key Reform Opportunities Judicial selection is broken. Supreme Court justices are nominated by party caucuses but run on a "nonpartisan" ballot — something both hosts call transparently hypocritical. Other states use bipartisan vetting committees before…

People in this episode

Hosts: Guy Gordon, Eric Lupher

Topics covered

• Michigan Constitution
• Judicial Branch
• Constitutional Convention
• Judicial Selection
• Court Funding

Keywords

• Michigan Constitution
• judicial branch
• constitutional convention
• judicial selection
• court funding

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Citizens Research Council of Michigan

Books & works: 1963 Michigan Constitution

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