The Recorder's Court, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

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, was a state court of

limited jurisdiction Limited jurisdiction, or special jurisdiction, is the court's jurisdiction only on certain types of cases such as bankruptcy, and family matters. Courts of limited jurisdiction, as opposed to general jurisdiction, derive power from an issuing auth ...

which had, for most of its history,

exclusive jurisdiction Exclusive jurisdiction exists in civil procedure if one court has the power to adjudicate a case to the exclusion of all other courts. The opposite situation is concurrent jurisdiction (or non-exclusive jurisdiction) in which more than one cour ...

over traffic and ordinance matters, and over all

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

cases committed in the City of Detroit. Its jurisdiction did not extend to civil suits. It was merged into the Wayne County

Circuit Court Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...

, the general jurisdiction court in Wayne County, following the pattern of the rest of the state of Michigan in October 1997.

History

Origin

It traces its roots to the Mayor's Court in Detroit, formed in 1824. To clarify, Detroit Recorders' Court was one of the oldest courts of record in the U.S.A. This municipal court probably owed its name to the fact that from 1827 until 1857, the official name of the City of Detroit was "The Mayor, Recorder and Alderman of Detroit." A "Recorder" is the title of a judicial officer in

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and some other

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

jurisdictions, such as the former office " Recorder of New York City".

Sweet family murder trials

Within its 173-year history, the Ossian Sweet family murder trials—defended by

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the ...

and presided over by Judge Frank Murphy (who became

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, the last

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and the first High Commissioner of the

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, and

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) is arguably the most famous case tried there. The trials are memorialized in two official Michigan Historical Markers: * Frank Murphy * Dr. Ossian Sweet / Home Additionally, there is a "Michigan Legal Milestones". plaque (erected by the State Bar of Michigan in the first floor of the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit. Kevin Boyle's chronicle, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age was adapted into a play. Mr. Boyle was honored by the Detroit City Council for The Sweet Trials. *''The Sweet Trials: Malice Aforethought'' is a play written by Arthur Beer, based on the trials of Ossian and Henry Sweet, and derived from Kevin Boyle's '' Arc of Justice''.

Merger into Wayne County Circuit Court

The merger of the Recorder's court and Wayne County (Third Judicial) Circuit Court was not without controversy. It was made pursuant to a 1997 state law which also consolidated the state's probate courts into a family court, a far less controversial change. A lawsuit brought by Richard Kuhn opposed the merger, but did not prevail. Prior to the merger, "judges of Recorder's Court were elected from Detroit, so unsurprisingly, most of them were African-American. Then Detroit Recorder's Court was abolished — or rather, it was merged with Wayne County Circuit Court. The Recorder's Court judges became Circuit Court judges, and have to run for re-election in Wayne County as a whole, which is predominantly white." At the time of its merger, and now as reconfigured as a part of the Wayne County Circuit Court, the court has been housed in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.

Notable judges

* George Crockett Jr., later a US Congressional Representative * George Crockett III * Gershwin A. Drain (born 1949), later a US federal judge * Frank Murphy, later mayor of Detroit, governor of Michigan, attorney general of the United States, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court * John R. Murphy * Justin Ravitz, a lawyer for the

League of Revolutionary Black Workers The League of Revolutionary Black Workers (LRBW) formed in 1969 in Detroit, Michigan. The League united a number of different Revolutionary Union Movements (RUMs) that were growing rapidly across the auto industry and other industrial sectors—i ...

, was elected in 1972 with their support and the support of a large radical coalition.

History

Origin

Sweet family murder trials

Merger into Wayne County Circuit Court

Notable judges

Notes

Further reading