On November 11, Chief Justice Megan Cavanagh stepped out of Michigan’s Supreme Court and into a Michigan State University classroom, offering Spartans a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the state’s highest court.
Invited by Professor Fayyaz Hussain for his ISS 215: Social Differentiation and Inequality course, Cavanagh shared stories that bridged personal history, legal complexity, and the evolving relationship between Michigan’s courts and its sovereign tribal nations.
“The Supreme Court is the highest court in Michigan,” she began, “but it’s also one court of justice.” That phrase, drawn from the Michigan Constitution, framed much of her discussion—underscoring the collaborative spirit that defines the state’s judicial system.
Cavanagh’s connection to the court runs deep. Her father, a former chief justice, swore her in when she joined the bench in 2019 and also championed initiatives that reshaped Michigan’s judicial landscape. In the early 1990s, when only eight federally recognized tribes existed in Michigan, he helped establish mechanisms for state courts to recognize and enforce tribal court decisions, a model that continues today.
“Now we have 12 federally recognized tribes,” Cavanagh noted, “and each is sovereign, with its own court system. Collaboration matters.”
She also explained that most residents encounter the judicial system at the district court level, which handles misdemeanors and small claims. Circuit courts oversee felonies and family matters like divorce and adoption, while probate courts manage wills, estates, and guardianship. Unique to Michigan is the Court of Claims, which hears cases against the state itself.
From there, cases can move to the Court of Appeals—reviewing roughly 2,000 cases annually—and finally to the Michigan Supreme Court, which hears about 80 cases each year.
“We see everything,” Cavanagh said, while noting that her own experience often centers on Fourth Amendment issues like search and seizure.
Despite the political nature of judicial elections—Michigan’s Supreme Court justices are nominated by parties but elected on a nonpartisan ballot—Cavanagh emphasized the court’s commitment to impartiality.
“We work really hard to keep politics out of our decisions,” she said. “Our vote sheets don’t fall along party lines. We all bring different experiences to the bench, and that’s what makes the work meaningful.”
Her reflections contrasted sharply with her father’s era, when ideological divides sometimes turned personal. “It was a very bad time,” she recalled. “A lot of personal attacks. That’s not what justice should be.”
Cavanagh also addressed the unique challenges of campaigning for judicial office. Bound by strict ethics rules, candidates cannot promise how they would rule on specific issues.
“That’s what you want in a judge,” she explained. “Someone who will consider the case and follow the law—not someone who says, ‘I’ll always vote this way.’”
For Dr. Hussain, Cavanagh’s visit felt like an exciting family tradition: she had spoken in his class two years ago, and more than a decade earlier, her father, Justice Michael Cavanagh, had done the same.