Over half the cases, 28 out of 53 cases,
heard by the Michigan Supreme Court in the 2013-14 term were resolved in
unanimous fashion. This represents a significant increase from the previous
year where out of 59 cases only 21 were agreed upon unanimously.
In the 2012-13 term, four out of the seven
Justices were changed so the recently discovered stability does not come as a
surprise. While the court did not lose any Justices during this session, next
session has the potential to cause a disruption in the court as Justice Michael
Cavanagh has reached the constitutional age limit and cannot seek reelection
and Justice Brian Zahra and Justice David Viviano are facing reelection bids.
Only five cases before the court were decided
on a 4-3 ruling; however, one of those was the headline case of the session, People v. Carp. The issue brought up in
this case, parole hearings for juveniles sentenced to life in prison without
parole, is still before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The 2013-14 term saw some interesting trends
such as the alliance between Justice Mary Beth Kelly and Justice Bridget
McCormack who only disagreed on three cases. This regular agreement is made
more interesting by the fact that Ms. Kelly is a Republican while Ms. McCormack
is a Democrat. Justice Cavanagh was the justice who most frequently dissented
with a total of 7 times.