Marilyn Jean Kelly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 67thChief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court | |
| In office January 8, 2009 – January 1, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Clifford Taylor |
| Succeeded by | Robert P. Young, Jr. |
| Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court | |
| In office January 1, 1997 – January 1, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Levin |
| Succeeded by | Bridget Mary McCormack |
| Judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals | |
| In office January 1, 1989 – January 1, 1997 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1938-04-15)April 15, 1938 (age 86) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Eastern Michigan University(BA) Middlebury College(MA) Wayne State University(JD) |
Marilyn Jean Kelly (born April 15, 1938) is an American jurist. She was elected to two terms both on theMichigan Court of Appeals and as a justice of theMichigan Supreme Court. Due to her being over 70 years old, Kelly was prohibited by theMichigan Constitution to seek re-election in 2012.[1]
FollowingClifford Taylor's defeat in the 2008 elections, Justice Kelly was elected 4-3 to succeed him asChief Justice of Michigan.[2] She held that position until 2011 whenRobert P. Young, Jr. was elected by the justices of the court.[3]
Kelly is aDetroit native and 1956 graduate ofMackenzie High School. In late 1956, Marilyn Jean Kelly moved toYpsilanti to begin undergraduate coursework atEastern Michigan University; she received herB.A. degree from E.M.U. in 1960. One year later, Kelly was awarded anM.A. degree in French Language and Literature fromMiddlebury College inVermont. Following a brief stay inFrance, wrapping up her graduate studies atLa Sorbonne - theUniversity of Paris, Kelly spent five years teaching French in theGrosse Pointe public school system,Albion College andEastern Michigan University.
Marilyn Jean Kelly also served on theMichigan State Board of Education during the 1960s; later elected as President of the statewide organization. In 1971, Marilyn Jean Kelly graduated with honors from theWayne State University Law School. For the next seventeen years, Kelly clerked and practiced law as an associate attorney; eventually opening her own practice - Marilyn Kelly and Associates, ofBloomfield Hills.
In 1988, Kelly was elected to the first of two consecutive terms on theMichigan Court of Appeals. In 1996, during her second term on the appellate court, Marilyn Jean Kelly won election to theMichigan Supreme Court. 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.