Law student speaks during Diversity Lunch
On March 25, the State Bar of Michigan American Indian Law Section (AILS) and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section’s (ADRS) Diversity and Inclusion Action Team co-sponsored a virtual discussion for mediators, arbitrators, other alternative dispute resolution practitioners, and members of the American Indian Law Section. WMU-Cooley third-year law student Stacey L. Rock, who is the law student adviser to the State Bar of Michigan American Indian Law Section, was a presenter during the event.
Rock, a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, is the assistant court administrator/clerk of the courts for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Tribal Court. For the past eight years she has served as the support staff person for the Pokagon Band Peacemaking Program. “I was honored to discuss my tribe’s peacemaking efforts and how it can help inform new approaches to diversifying how we resolve legal conflicts,” said Rock. “While these conversations are not easy to have, they are necessary, and they must continue. Discussing bias, race, ethnicity and cultures are difficult conversations to have in a diverse setting, but in order to overcome our differences we must understand our similarities. We must educate ourselves about the things we do not know, and most importantly, as future lawyers we must educate others to do the same.”
Other presenters during the event included: Lee Hornberger, State Bar of Michigan, ADRS Diversity & Inclusion Committee co-chair; Amy Wesaw, AILS chair; and Shawntane Williams (State Bar of Michigan ADRS Council Member and Diversity & Inclusion Committee co-chair.
Court: It’s too hard or independents to make Michigan ballot
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s requirement that independent statewide candidates collect at least 30,000 signatures is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled 2-1 Monday, upholding a lower judge.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision kept intact a 12,000-signature threshold set by District Judge Victoria Roberts. The case began in 2018, when state attorney general candidate Chris Graveline’s name was ordered on the ballot after he and some voters sued.
Judges Karen Nelson Moore and Ronald Lee Gilman said the combination of the 30,000-signature minimum, a requirement that at least 100 come from half of 14 congressional districts and the state’s July filing deadline “imposes a severe burden on independent candidates.” Only five states have a higher signature requirement, according to the majority.
Graveline finished fourth in the race for attorney general with less than 2% of the vote. But his legal fight could ease future independent candidates’ ability to qualify.
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