16B - The Michigan Daily Voter Guide - Thursday, November 2, 2000
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The Michigan Daily V
3 seats on Supreme Court up for election
'A Team' hopes to expand regi
By Louie Meizlish
Daily Staff Reporter
MICHGAN SUPEME OUR
Runn.
With three incumbent justices on the Marl
ballot, the usually overlooked Michigan Robi
Supreme Court race has attracted a
great deal of attention this year and can- DNo;
didates have pumped record amounts of Dem
money into their campaigns. Incum
. Three of the seven-member court's
five Republicans are running to retain occup
their seats, and each faces Democratic Attor
and Libertarian opposition. Reside
Although the candidates' parties are eta
not listed on the ballot, the three incum- Rob
bent justices were nominated at the Nomin
state Republican Convention while incum
their challengers were each nominated occup
at their own party's convention. Reside
Justice Clifford W Taylor, who is C
running for a full-eight year term, was Cliff
appointed by Gov. John Engler in 1997 Tayl
to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Nomin
He had served on the Michigan Court Repu
'f Appeals since 1995. Incum
le believes the role of a judge is to Yes
"interpret the law - not to make law." Occup
Tavlor, who has been endorsed by the Supr
Cour
Police Officers Association of Reside
Michigan, said it is not the role of Lansi
Supreme Court to make inquiries to
"see if there's a technical reason" to for the
throw out a criminal conviction. favor of
Challenging Taylor is Democratic and relig
nominee Marietta Robinson, a special- The m
ist in medical malpractice law. said, is
Robinson has served as an adjunct pro- constitut
fessor at Wayne State University and larly am
the University of Detroit Law Schools. idea that
Robinson contends she has never been In the
" politically active and promises to bring Justice
"fairness, experience, independence, appointe
good judgment and a complete lack of last year.
any political agenda to the office." Marki
She said the Republican incumbents a judge
are "against individuals and in favor of Appeals
special interests," namely insurance assistant
companies. States, s
Also on the ballot is attorney Robert the elect
W Roddis, who was nominated by the "Wha
Libertarian Party. Roddis, a specialist in doing?"
civil-business law who also made a run be exe
VOUCHERS
Continued from Page 15B
Yes! spokesman Greg McNeilly said. "Quality
education is a civil right."
McNeilly compared picking a school to shopping
for groceries, saving quality would fail without
competition. "Public schools will become better
with the increase in competition between the pubic
and private domains," he said. "If we can save one
child, then it is worth it."
Laura Wotruba, a spokeswoman for the anti-
vouchers group ALL Kids First!, countered
McNeilly's position, saying vouchers are too sim-
plistic. Wotruba said research shows smaller class
sizes and increased parental involvement are more
effective in improving schools.
"It will hurt kids in the long run," Wotruba said.
"We would be using public money to support two
school systems. Who is this going to help? Who is
going to be left behind?"
Wotruba said public money should stay in pub-
lic school systems and not be used for private or
parochial education. "Private schools do not fol-
low the same regulations as public schools," she
said. "Private schools can pick and choose the stu-
dents to be admitted. They do not have to reveal
how they spend their money. Public schools do."
ing for an eight-year term:
etta
nson
ated by:
ocrats
bent:
ation:
ney
ence:
mora
ert W. Roddis
ated by: Libertarians
bent: No
atlon: Attorney,
ence: Grosse Pointe Farms
ord W.
or
ated by:
ibiicans et
bent:
ation:.
eme
t justice
ence:
ng
Running for a four-year term:
Stephen J.
Markman
Nominated by:
Republicans
Incumbent:
Yes
Occupation:
Supreme
Court justice
Residence:
Mason
David H. Raaflaub
Nominated by: Libertarians
Incumbent: No
occupation: Attorney
Residence: Ann Arbor
Edward MR
Thomas
Nominated by:
Democrats
Incumbent:
No
Occupation:
Wayne County
Circuit judge
Residence
Detroit
Running for a two-year term:
E. ThomasR
Fitzgerald
Nominated by:
Democrats
Incumbent:
No
Occupation:
Appeals court
judge
Residence:
Owosso
Jerry J. Kaufman
Nominated by: Libertarians
Incumbent: No
Occupation: Attorney
Residence: Huntington Woods
Robert
Young
Nominated by:
Republicans
Incumbent:.
Yes
Occupation:
Supreme
Court justice
Residence:
Detroit
should be established to better accom-
modate people who work during the day
and want to represent themselves.
Seeking to serve the remaining two
years of the term to which he was
appointed in 1998, Justice Robert P.
Young Jr. is a firm believer in judicial
restraint. "The judiciary is not an auxil-
iary legislature, nor is the judiciary free
to intervene in public policy decisions
of the political branches and remake
them,"Young said.
Young previously served on the
Michigan Court of.Appeals and is a for-
mer corporate secretary and general
counsel of AAA Michigan. He was also
a regent at Central Michigan University.
E. Thomas Fitzgerald, the Democratic
nominee, has served on the Michigan
Court of Appeals since 1990. Thomas is
also an adjunct professor at the Thomas
M. Coolev Law School in Lansing.
"There is no one running who has
more experience than Tom Fitzgerald,"
said Michael Shore, a spokesman for
the Fitzgerald campaign. Shore con-
tends that, having been elected twice to
the Court of Appeals, Fitzgerald "owes
his allegiance to the people and no one
else," while the incumbents are "wholly
owned subsidiaries of the Chamber of
Commerce" who "reword state law into
a way that is favorable to big business."
Also in the race is Libertarian candi-
date Jerry J. Kaufman, who describes
himself as a "civil rights labor, and con-
sumers' action" attorney. ie has lec-
tured at the University of Michigan on
exam writing and his campaign is total-
lv self-financed. "The court does not
need three to six months to issue a deci-
sion," Kaufman said. Rulings should be
issued in two to four weeks, he said, and
the court should be able to handle 450
cases per year instead of about 120 as it
handles currently.
Kaufman said he refuses to engage in
"mudslinging," arguing that political
attacks tarnish the process of electing
impartial justices. H( promised that if
elected he would return at least half of
his pay to the Michigan State Treasury.
By Lisa Koivu
Dail' StaffReporter
While one may often hear the term "the A-Team"
during the next few days before the election, the
term is not referring to the 1980s television hit -
it's the campaign slogan for Wendy Anderson and
Susv Avery, the two Republican candidates for seats
on the University Board of Regents.
Anderson and Avery are graduates of the
University's Dearborn campus. Avery currently
serves as the vice president of Travel Michigan,
and Anderson spends her time taking care of her
two young children. Anderson has previously
worked as a legislative staff members for several
state senators.
Both candidates would like to work to improve
the relationship between the University's Ann Arbor
campus and its Flint and Dearborn campuses.
"The two satellite schools have really grown in
stature. I don't know if Ann Arbor believes that
Dearborn and Flint are up to that high of a level"
Avery said recently during an appearance on
WKAR-AM 870 with host Bill Ballenger, editor
of Inside Michigan Politics.
Avery said graduating from the Dearborn cam-
pus gives them a different perspective from any
of the regents, because no one currently on the
board has attended either of the University's
satellite campuses.
"There is a difference in perspective when com-
ing from a background like Wendy and I - we
need to be heard," Avery said.
Third-party candidates hope
to include students on board
Wendy
Anderson
Party.
Republican
Incumbent:
No
Occupation:
'Homemaker
Residence:
Commerce Twp.
A,
By Lisa Koivu
Daily Staff Reporter
While their opinions may differ, three
of the I I candidates for seats on the
University Board of Regents have at
least one thing in common - they are
all students here at the University.
Scott Trudeau, an LSA senior run-
ning with the Green Party, Rackham
student Tim Maull, a Libertarian
Party candidate, and Reform Party
candidate Nick Waun, a Greek and
Roman archaeology junior at the
University of Michigan at Flint, all
hope to do what has never happened
before: Become the first student to
serve on the board.
Maull said it is important for a student
to be on the board because all the deci-
sions made by the regents affect students.
"Students have the right to organize
politically and put a student on the
board. In this way they can control their
own destiny," Maull said.
Waun said a student is needed on the
board because of the ability to under-
stand what students need. "Most regents
are alumni. lo get a current student per-
spective you need someone who walks
among the students," he said.
Waun said he is most concerned
about the amount of money the
University spends.
"The University is spending S30 mil-
lion on renovations for Hill Auditorium,
S400 million on the new Life Sciences
Institute and so forth," Waun said. "I'd
See STUDENTS, Page 18B
i* I
Supreme Court in 1992, is in
legalizing "drugs, pornography
gion."
main issue in the race, Roddis
whether the justices uphold the
ion. "I don't think it's particu-
biguous," he said. "I reject the
the constitution grows."
race for a partial four-year term,
Stephen J. Markman, who was
d to fill a vacancy on the court
, is the Republican nominee.
'nan, who previously.served as
of the Michigan Court of
and as a U.S. attorney and
attorney general of the United
aid the most important issue in
ion is the role of the judiciary.
t do we want our justices to be
he asked. "Do we want them to
rcising adult supervision or
should they ... be interpreting the lan-
guage of the law?"
In response to Democratic claims that
the incumbents all speak with one mind,
Markman said the justices show-a lot of
independence from one another and
have a great deal of support for their hes-
itancy to throw out criminal cases simply
over technical matters. "The three
incumbent justices ... have the endorse-
ment of every responsible law enforce-
ment organization in the state," he said.
Democratic nominee Edward M.
Thomas has been a Wayne County
Circuit Court judge since 1990.
"I have always been independent and
have never compromised my integrity
for personal or political reasons in mak-
ing judicial decisions," Thomas said on
his campaign Website.
With respect to the incumbent jus-
tices seeking re-election, Thomas said
"they are trying to limit access of indi-
viduals to courts."
"There's supposed to be diversity and
independence of thought" on the court,
he said. "It's really curious that the three
of them go around together."
Libertarian nominee David H1.
Raaflaub has been a tenant and securi-
ties lawyer for 20 years.
He believes the most important issue
in the Supreme Court race is the erosion
of constitutional rights, especially the
Second Amendment guaranteeing
Americans the right to bear arms. The
prohibition of marijuana, he believes, is
a violation of the 10th Amendment.
"The constitution is being changed
but not by the process designated for
i Scott Nick
Tm Waun
Maull _TrUdaW
Party: PyParty
e tarian Green /,Reform
School: School
Raekham LSA . Flint campus
Year:Year
Graduate Senior Junior
(Dt F ?Stop by the UAC office, 4(
doing so," Raaflaub said.
He also believes "night
courts"
"if we can save one
child, then it is worth
it,"
- Greg McNeilly
Kids First! Yes! spokesman
Proposal I would require teacher testing on aca-
demic subjects in both public and nonpublic
schools that redeem tuition vouchers.
Kids First! Yes! points to similar programs in
other states where vouchers have succeeded.
"There is nothing worse than what is happening
right now," McNeilly said. "Look at Milwaukee's
program. Their program works"
But Wotruba highlighted several differences
between Michigan's proposal and the other vouch-
er systems.
"Other programs have a lottery system where if
there are more students than openings in the private
school system, students will be chosen at random.
Michigan does not have this," she said. "Other pro-
grams have an income qualifier for students to be
able to use vouchers, aiined for low income fami-
lies. Michigan does not have this."
LOCAL
Continued from Page 15B
of an act passed earlier this year that prohibits
local governments from suing gun manufacturers.
The city of Detroit had pursued a lawsuit against
gun manufacturers but was unable to proceed
when the law took effect.
Opponents of the proposal acknowledge that
local control is important, but say the proposal was
not structured or thought out carefully. One problem
opponents have with the proposal is its vague word-
ing, especially concerning the term "intervention."
"We really don't know where the line would be
drawn," said Martha Johnson, iceepresident of
governmental affairs of the Ann Arbor Chamber of
Commerce.
But Sheldon said the proposal is written in a
specific manner to have the desired effect.
"Constitutional language is usually quite broad,
and this is where Drafters' Notes (for the amend-
ment) come into effect," Sheldon said. "They sup-
port and define what we consider to be intervention."
According to the Drafters' Notes on the ballot, a
supermajority vote by the Legislature would be
necessary for states to intervene in or increase
their role in municipal'government, property or
concerns. Municipalities are defined in the propos-
al as "a city, village, county, township or any
municipal authority:
Opponents argue that because dissenting votes
from only 37 representatives or 13 senators would
be enough to keep a bill from passing, the proposal
would give legislative control to the minority party.
If citizens are unhappy with a piece of legisla-
tion, the state's Constitution currently allows them
to collect a certain number of signatures to suspend
that law until the next general election. According
to the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, this is "a
more democratic approach" than Proposal 2.
Sheldon said a two-thirds vote is not uncommon
in the Legislature, but when a superrmajority vote
is required, it is usually forsan issue that needs seri-
ous thought. In this case, she said, the issues deal
with the "quality of life" in communities, and the
concerns vary by region.
Opponents complain that Proposal 2 would create
discontinuity across local borders, in public infra-
structure such as road care and storm water manage-
ment, local billboard ordinances and business regu-
lations. But Proposal 2 supporters believe these are
all local issues that should be regulated "according to
the needs of a community" Sheldon said.
Proposal 2 would not require a supermajority
vote for any legislation granting more control to
local governments.,.,
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