by Diana L. Coleman
Legal News
Governor Rick Snyder has appointed honorable Brian Zahra, Michigan Court of Appeals judge, to the Michigan Supreme Court. Zahra replaced Justice Maura Corrigan (see article below) who has joined Snyder’s cabinet as the director of the Department of Human Services.
In a press release from the Governor’s office Snyder said, “Judge Zahra’s sixteen years of judicial experience and his razor sharp intelligence will make him an outstanding addition to the court. His integrity and consistent legal philosophy that judges are to interpret laws, not make them, gives me confidence that he will respect our system of checks and balances while upholding the rule of law.”
Zahra earned a Bachelors of General Studies from Wayne State University in 1984, a degree he earned after paying his way through college by opening a successful health and beauty-aid store in downtown Detroit which he later expanded into a full grocery store. He then went on to earn his J.D. from the University of Detroit School of Law, where he graduated cum laude in 1987. In law school he served as a member of the Law Review and as Articles Editor to the State Bar of Michigan’s Corporation and Finance Business Law Journal.
Zahra began his career in 1987 as a law clerk to Judge Zatkoff of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Two years later, he joined the Detroit law firm of Dickinson, Wright, Noon, VanDusen & Freeman, where he later became a partner.
Zahra was appointed to the Wayne County Circuit Court (3rd Circuit) in 1994, where he served until his appointment to the Michigan Court of Appeals in December 1998. In August 2004, he was nominated and ran for the Michigan Supreme Court. Now, less than seven years later, he has been appointed to that court.
Zahra’s judicial philosophy
In a referendum with the Eastside Republican Club for the November 7, 2006 General Election, Judge Zahra predicted, “This November we may well hear the question, ‘Are you better off today than you were four years ago?’” Answering the question, Zahra said, “I know that, economically, we are not better off today.” He said, “One area in which I can emphatically state we are better off today than eight years ago is related to the court system.” Explaining that he shared the philosophy of Justice Maura Corrigan and the majority of the Michigan Supreme Court, Zahra said he aims to search for the rule of law and respects the separation of powers, “leaving to the legislature the significant policy questions of the day.
“There are many special interest groups that oppose that concept. Special interest groups have spent millions to defeat our Supreme Court, and those special interest groups believe they can easily influence Michigan’s Judiciary, because they feel people don’t understand or care about those races.”
Zahra has served on the Domestic Violence Legislation Implementation Task Force and the advisory committee for the Michigan Judicial Institute Domestic Violence Benchbook. He is a member of the Federalist Society and Board of Directors of the Catholic Lawyers Society.
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