By Ed White
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — Joan Larsen made national news in May when Donald Trump’s campaign listed her as a possible pick for the U.S. Supreme Court if he becomes president.
“People say, ‘Do you want to be on the Supreme Court?’ I say, ‘I’m on the Supreme Court’ — and that’s where I’d like to stay,” Larsen said.
She was referring to the Michigan Supreme Court, where Larsen has been a justice since being appointed a year ago by Gov. Rick Snyder. Now the former law professor is seeking election with Justice David Viviano in the two most significant races for statewide office on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Larsen is being challenged by Wayne County Judge Deborah Thomas, while Viviano is facing Wayne County Judge Frank Szymanski.
The justices were endorsed by the Republican Party. Their main opponents were nominated by the Democratic Party.
But party affiliations aren’t listed on the ballot in Supreme Court races. Larsen and Viviano will be labeled as justices, which is clearly an advantage when voters usually have no idea who’s on the bench and are unaware of a
candidate’s credentials.
“I don’t see us having enough money to do TV or much radio,” Szymanski said of efforts to promote himself and Thomas. “I just go out and tell people, ‘If you really want justice for all, you’ve got to tell eight people and two of those are going to have to tell eight people.’ That’s the only way we have a chance.”
Republican justices have a 5-2 majority over Democratic justices, but the days of a rancorous Supreme Court appear long over. Through mid-October, at least 20 opinions this year have been unanimous.
“Getting the law right is the most important thing,” Viviano said. “When our court is able to speak with one voice, that’s a good thing.”
The major candidates:
— Larsen, 48, was a professor at University of Michigan law school when Snyder picked her to fill a vacancy in 2015. She said she takes a “textual” approach to her work — or “reading the law for what it says,” not for what she wishes it would say.
Larsen was a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative giant on the court, and spoke at a memorial following his death in February. She also served in the U.S. Justice Department when George W. Bush was president.
She considers criminal law and constitutional law to be her strongest areas.
“Family law is not something I spent a great deal of time with. That has been a learning curve,” Larsen said. “Those cases have been tragic but also incredibly interesting. ... I enjoy the variety of legal issues that come to us.”
— Thomas, 63, is making her second run for the Supreme Court after losing in 2014. She considers the constitution to be a “living organism.”
“We have to apply the law in the days and times in which we live,” said Thomas, adding that she and Larsen “are at opposite ends of the pole.”
If elected, she wants more specialty courts in Michigan for veterans, drug abusers and people with mental health problems. Thomas said she spends much time outside her Detroit courthouse talking about human trafficking, expunging criminal records and gun safety.
“I have been on the bench for 21 years. How about a voice from the city?” Thomas said. “Of the seven justices, none of them works, plays or prays in an urban city.”
— Szymanski, 63, has spent the last decade as a judge in the juvenile division of Wayne County court. He said a Supreme Court race “was not on my radar” until he was recruited to run.
“Some of the stuff I hear is heartbreaking,” he said of juvenile court. “I get reminded every day how good I had it to have two parents who raised seven kids. My job is to do whatever I can to raise somebody up to have a chance to be successful.”
He’s emphasizing populist themes, saying he believes the Supreme Court isn’t deciding cases “for the man on the street.” Szymanski disagreed with a decision that blocked 350 prisoners from a possible chance at parole.
They subsequently benefited from a sweeping ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.
He wishes he had asked Viviano to appear at a candidate forum.
“He has a very different philosophy than I have,” Szymanski said.
— Viviano, 44, is one of only two Supreme Court justices with experience as a trial judge. He was on the Macomb County bench when Snyder appointed him in 2013.
Like Larsen, Viviano said his job is to interpret the law and not make it.
“I’m more comfortable now being there a couple years and building relationships with colleagues,” he said.
Part of his work has nothing to do with settling legal conflicts. The Supreme Court oversees Michigan’s lower courts, and Viviano is the point man on training judges and making a statewide transition to electronic document filing.
Asked about appearing stand-by-side with election challengers, Viviano said he would consider public forums but probably not in time for this election.
“Judge races are mostly about name ID. ... I try to be accessible,” he said. “I do parades, which a lot of judges don’t do.”
Other candidates in the two Supreme Court races are Doug Dern and Kerry Morgan.
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