FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Here is something on former Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert P. Young.
Dr. Linda Hotchkiss, MD with her husband and former Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court
Robert P. ‘Bob’ Young. Both met as students while attending Harvard University. They have been married
for more than 40 years and have two sons. Justice Young is one of the most experienced of the list under consideration and at the age of 67 year’s young he is the elder jurist on the list.
Note – cannot find anything on any religious affiliation nor profound stance on abortion which may in fact be good.
From then Attorney General of the State and eventual Governor of the State of Michigan,
Jennifer Granholm (D) on his appointment and swearing in to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1999.
Speaking platitudes of Bob Young’s use of a compelling and congenial vocabulary she then said this.
Governor (John Engler-R) you have simply made an excellent, excellent choice here. Bob Young is a man of tremendous talent, assiduousness. He is an unbelievably fair person and I know will be a rich and wonderful and thoughtful and fair asset to the Supreme Court of Michigan.
And from Governor Engler.
Bob Young has everything it takes and more to serve on our Supreme Court. He has the intellect. He has the experience. He has the temperament. He has the integrity. And he certainly has the ability. Bob Young has a passion for the law and a compassion for people that make him ideally suited for this challenge. Years ago Albert Schweitzer said this “Example is not the main thing in life, it is the only thing.” Bob Young’s example, Justice Young’s example with make Michigan very proud.
How about a jurist with class and distinction who is the definition of collegiality?
Plus his laugh is contagious.
Might he have the Right Stuff and could we see a surprise pick?
Could this jurist be a wise Yoda in a judicial robe and the distinctive bow tie being his Jedi Lightsaber?
Legend has it he was a student of Obi-Wan Kenobi off campus while in law school.
As Donald says “He looks like he is from central casting.”
And Judge Young has the temperament, scholarly intelligence and thoughtful respect needed for the Supreme Court.
Sure looks, sounds and reads like it.
Could there actually be an I Ching Oracle in that bow tie and 64 hexagrams?
Maybe the President will follow his gut instincts and feeling.
Is Judge Young a potential eye in the hurricane in Washington and the country today?
GF
Robert Young is pictured in 2010. | Carlos Osorio/AP Photo
Robert Young of Michigan, Supreme Court of Michigan (retired). Young was named as general counsel for Michigan State University in May 2018 after he negotiated the $500 million settlement between the university and victims of convicted sexual predator and former gymnastics physician Larry Nassar.
Young served on the Michigan Supreme Court from 1999-2017. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
Property Rights[edit]
Young authored the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision in Wayne County v. Hathcock (2004),[19] which involved a dispute over the power of eminent domain to transfer privately owned real estate to another private entity for a commercial business and technology park. Decided one year before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London, Young’s decision held that the Michigan Constitution only allowed eminent domain for “public use” and determined that three circumstances justified condemnation through eminent domain to a private entity: “(1) where ‘public necessity of the extreme sort’ requires collective action; (2) where the property remains subject to public oversight after transfer to a private entity; and (3) where the property is selected because of ‘facts of independent public significance,’ rather than the interests of the private entity to which the property is eventually transferred.'”[19]
Hathcock overturned the 1981 Michigan Supreme Court decision in Poletown Neighborhood Council v. Detroit, which Young criticized as a “radical and unabashed departure from the entirety of this Court’s…eminent domain jurisprudence” because it “concluded, for the first time in the history of our eminent domain jurisprudence, that a generalized economic benefit was sufficient under [the Michigan Constitution] to justify the transfer of condemned property to a private entity.”[19]
In Michigan the 2004 State Supreme Court Decision in Wayne County v. Hitchcock stands in the state. Eminent Domain in Michigan can only be used for public and not private use.
Voting Rights[edit]
Young authored the Michigan Supreme Court’s advisory opinion regarding whether election officials can require photo identification before voting in In Re Request for Advisory Opinion Regarding the Constitutionality of 2005 PA 71 (2007).[20] The Court upheld a requirement that voters present photo identification before voting as a “reasonable, nondiscriminatory” requirement to vote that has the legitimate goal of preserving the fairness of elections.[20] The Court held that the requirement did not amount to a “poll tax” or present a severe burden on voters. Young explained: “the act of reaching into one’s purse or wallet and presenting photo identification before being issued a ballot” is a reasonable requirement, and even those without identification may simply sign an affidavit in lieu of presenting identification or obtain an identification card free of charge from the Secretary of State.[20] Young also explained that the fundamental right to vote includes the assurance that one’s vote will not be cancelled out by fraudulent votes, giving the State a compelling interest to prevent voter fraud in elections.[20]
Other Constitutional Doctrines[edit]
Young authored the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision in Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation v. Nestle Waters North America(2007).[21] which applied Michigan’s constitutional standing doctrine to the Michigan Environmental Protection Act. The doctrine of standing (law) involves the ability of a person or corporation to bring a lawsuit, and thus assert legal rights and duties in the courts.[22]As Young’s opinion explained: “We vigilantly enforce principles of standing in order to vindicate the separation of legislative, executive, and judicial powers among the coordinate branches of government to which those respective powers have been committed.”[21] As the Court had previously articulated in Lee v. Macomb County Board of Comm’rs (2001), which applied principles of federal standing doctrine,[23]
Applying federal and state principles of standing doctrine in Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, Young’s decision concluded that “[w]here the plaintiff claims an injury related to the environment, this Court lacks the ‘judicial power’ to hear the claim if the plaintiff cannot aver facts that he has suffered or will imminently suffer a concrete and particularized injury in fact,” such as “when the defendant’s activities directly affected the plaintiff’s recreational, aesthetic, or economic interests.”[21]
From The Guardian article in 2016.
Robert Young
In a 2007 decision, he upheld Michigan’s 1996 voter identification law – which does offer voters the ability to sign an affidavit affirming their identity instead of showing photo identification – calling it a “reasonable, nondiscriminatory restriction” and arguing that identification did not, in fact, amount to a poll tax.An African American appointed to the Michigan supreme court in 1999, elected to fill a partial term in 2000, and then elected for eight-year terms in 2002 and 2010, Young is that court’s chief justice and a conservative Republican. He identifies as a “judicial traditionalist”, a theory slightly more centrist than originalism but still opposed to the idea that the constitution is a living document.
Of more interest to some conservatives, he also authored a 2004 decision that overturned the use of eminent domain for economic development in the state (Michigan). In 2005, the US supreme court ruled in Kelo v City of New London that governments can, in fact, use eminent domain to take land from citizens and give it to private developers if there is a benefit to the community.
Opposition to the Kelo decision was part of the 2016 Republican platform – even though Donald Trump, rather infamously, attempted to use economic development eminent domain laws to his own benefit as a real estate developer.
The investiture ceremony of Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert P. Young, Jr. on February 18, 1999.
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Off the Record OVERTIME | Chief Justice Robert Young Jr. | 10/23/15 | WKAR PBS
Chief Justice Robert P. Young, Jr. and Justice Bridget M. McCormack discuss a new statewide rule for court interpreters, talk about collegiality on the Supreme Court, and take reporters’ questions in a September 11, 2013 media roundtable at the Michigan Hall of Justice.
Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert P. Young Jr. welcomes those attending the town hall meeting, which took place from 1-4 p.m. on January 29 at the Hall of Justice in Lansing.
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Preview YouTube video Off the Record OVERTIME | Chief Justice Robert Young Jr. | 10/23/15 | WKAR PBS
Preview YouTube video Media Roundtable with Chief Justice Robert P. Young, Jr., and Justice Bridget M. McCormack.
Preview YouTube video SBM 21st Century Practice Town Hall: Welcome and Overview
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