David Viviano (born December 8, 1971) is a justice of the

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the sta ...

, appointed by Governor

Rick Snyder Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Snyder previo ...

on February 28, 2013, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Justice

Diane Hathaway Diane Marie Hathaway (born February 1954) is a former Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. Hathaway, a Democrat, was elected on November 4, 2008 to an 8-year term which commenced in January, 2009. Hathaway retired from the court effective Janua ...

. Prior to his appointment to the Michigan Supreme Court, Justice Viviano was the Chief Judge of the Macomb County Circuit Court. Viviano defeated Deborah Thomas and Kerry L. Morgan in the general election on November 4, 2014, receiving 62.1 percent of the vote.

Early life and education

Justice Viviano earned a Bachelor's degree from Hillsdale College and his J.D degree from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Law School.

Notable decisions

In 2022, Viviano, joined by one other justice, dissented from a decision of the Michigan Supreme Court ordering the Board of State Canvassers to allow a ballot proposition that would amend the

Michigan Constitution The Constitution of the State of Michigan is the governing document of the U.S. state of Michigan. It describes the structure and function of the state's government. There have been four constitutions approved by the people of Michigan. The fi ...

to provide for a right to abortion before viability with limitations afterward. Viviano claimed that the proposed amendment did not comply with Michigan's "full text" requirement for ballot propositions because, while the full text may have been present, the text used different "spaces" than those found in the Michigan Constitution. Although 753,759 Michigan voters had signed the initiative,The Logic Behind Dobbs Was Always Crap, and Michigan Is a Case in Point. "Leave it to the states," they said, disingenuously
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'', Charles P. Pierce, September 9, 2022, Retrieved September 11, 2022. Viviano wrote, " e failure to include the spaces presents the amendment in a manner difficult to read and comprehend. Thus, it may have the right words in the right order—as the majority here suggests—but the lack of critical word spaces renders the remaining text much more difficult to read and comprehend, and therefore something less than the 'full text' required by the Constitution and statutes."

References

Living people Hillsdale College alumni Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court University of Michigan Law School alumni People from Sterling Heights, Michigan Michigan Republicans 21st-century American judges 1971 births {{Michigan-politician-stub