Candidate for Michigan Supreme Court Diane Marie Hathaway

But a race that some feel is just as important locally is the one for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court, which can be found further down the ballot.

Democratic Party nominee Diane Marie Hathaway will be running against incumbent and Republican nominee Cliff Taylor. Hathaway wants to make sure that everyone knows not to forget about the race.

“I urge everybody to vote the non-partisan part of the ballot vote (including the Supreme Court race) because that part usually has such a huge falloff rate,” she said.

With just seven members on the Michigan Supreme Court, the race is important since many votes are decided by a final tally of 4-3, making each vote crucial.

Hathaway is currently in her 16th year as a trial judge in Wayne County’s Third Circuit Court. The daughter of a former Detroit cop has presided over criminal and family appellate matters and graduated from the Detroit College of Law with a Juris Doctor degree. She is also a wife and mother of five children.

Taylor was appointed by former Michigan governor John Engler in 1992 to the Court of Appeals and then promoted to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1997.

The 54-year old Hathaway is running against Taylor because she believes that change is necessary in the Supreme Court. Hathaway said that Taylor needs to do a better job of following the law and not the concerns of special interest groups.

Regarding those concerns, she cited a University of Chicago Law School study that ranks Michigan’s Supreme Court dead last among the 50 U.S. states when it comes to judicial independence. Independence is defined in the study as the judges’ tendencies to withstand partisan pressures.

“I want to protect individual rights and not make rulings that take them away and I want to be fair and impartial in rendering decisions,” said Hathaway.

Hathaway also referenced a Michigan Lawyer’s Weekly article that ranked Taylor worst in preparedness, efficiency and overall knowledge of law, and thoroughness of opinion, according to attorneys in Michigan who practice in front of the Supreme Court.

Environmental issues are also a concern for Hathaway in regards to Taylor, especially in a decision involving the Nestle bottled water company and Michigan waterways.

“The Michigan Environmental Protection Act of 1970 specifically says in the 17.01 section that the attorney general or any person can bring a cause of action to protect the environment,” she said.

“The Republication majority (four people on the Supreme Court including Taylor) said (the person who raised the concerns) didn’t have standing because ‘any person’ doesn’t really mean ‘any person,’ it means any person who can prove to the satisfaction of the court that they have suffered specific, particularized harm.”

Hathaway believed that the intent of the law was to allow everyday citizens to act as watchdogs on environmental issues and that the Supreme Court compromised that intent with their ruling.

She said she plans to restore the power to the people if elected to the Supreme Court and promises to treat every person fairly and to take their concerns seriously.

“I will protect their individual rights and not make rulings that take them away,” she said.