Marilyn Jean Kelly (born April 15, 1938) is a retired jurist in
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. She was elected to two terms both on the
Michigan Court of Appeals
The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965. Its opinions are reported both in an official publication of ...
and as 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 state ...
. Due to her being over 70 years old, Kelly was prohibited by 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 seek re-election in 2012.
Following
Clifford Taylor
Clifford "Cliff" Taylor (born November 9, 1942) is a former American judge who served on the Michigan Supreme Court from 1997 through 2009. He served as the Michigan Supreme Court's Chief Justice from 2005 through 2009. After his tenure as a ju ...
's defeat in the 2008 elections, Justice Kelly was elected 4-3 to succeed him as
Chief Justice of Michigan. She held that position until 2011 when
Robert P. Young, Jr. was elected by the justices of the court.
Biography
Kelly is a
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
native and 1956 graduate of
Mackenzie High School. In late 1956, Marilyn Jean Kelly moved to
Ypsilanti to begin undergraduate coursework at
Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...
; she received her
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree from E.M.U. in 1960. One year later, Kelly was awarded an
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
degree in French Language and Literature from
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...
in
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
. Following a brief stay in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, wrapping up her graduate studies at
La Sorbonne
The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...
- the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
, Kelly spent five years teaching French in the
Grosse Pointe
Grosse Pointe refers to an affluent coastal area next to Detroit, Michigan, United States, that comprises five adjacent individual cities. From southwest to northeast, they are:
*Grosse Pointe Park
*Grosse Pointe
*Grosse Pointe Farms
*Grosse Poi ...
public school system,
Albion College
Albion College is a private liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students in 2014.
They participate in NCAA Division III and the Michigan Intercolle ...
and
Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...
.
Law career
Marilyn Jean Kelly also served on the
Michigan State Board of Education
The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is a state agency of Michigan, in the United States. The MDE oversees public school districts in the state. The department is governed by the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education was fi ...
during the 1960s; later elected as President of the statewide organization. In 1971, Marilyn Jean Kelly graduated with honors from the
Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...
. For the next seventeen years, Kelly clerked and practiced law as an associate attorney; eventually opening her own practice - Marilyn Kelly and Associates, of
Bloomfield Hills
Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern bo ...
.
In 1988, Kelly was elected to the first of two consecutive terms on the
Michigan Court of Appeals
The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965. Its opinions are reported both in an official publication of ...
. In 1996, during her second term on the appellate court, Marilyn Jean Kelly won election to 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 state ...
. Justice Kelly won a landslide re-election to the high court in 2004; receiving over 2 million votes - nearly half a million more than the runner-up.
References
External links
Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Marilyn Jean
Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court
Michigan state court judges
Living people
1938 births
Eastern Michigan University alumni
Middlebury College alumni
Wayne State University Law School alumni
Eastern Michigan University faculty
University of Paris alumni
Lawyers from Detroit
20th-century American judges
21st-century American judges
20th-century American women judges
21st-century American women judges
Mackenzie High School (Michigan) alumni
American women academics
Chief Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court
Women chief justices of state supreme courts in the United States