Elizabeth T. Clement

Elizabeth Tripp "Beth" Clement (born October 8, 1977) is an Associate Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, appointed to the bench in November 2017 by Gov. Rick Snyder.

Elizabeth T. Clement
Associate Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court
Assumed office
November 17, 2017
Appointed byRick Snyder
Preceded byJoan Larsen
Personal details
Born
Elizabeth Tripp

(1977-10-08) October 8, 1977
Spouse(s)Thomas P. Clement
Children4
Education

Biography

Clement graduated from Michigan State University in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, and she earned her Juris Doctor from the Michigan State University College of Law in 2002.[1] She owned and operated a private firm, Clement Law, PLLC, from 2002 to 2006, where she represented individuals and businesses primarily in the areas of family law, adoption, probate, estate planning, and criminal law.[2]

Government career

Clement served in both legislative and executive branches of the Michigan government before being appointed to the bench. Before opening her own firm, Clement served as a legislative aide to State Senate Majority Floor Leader Mike Rogers[2] and a policy advisor and legal counsel to state Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop from 2006 through 2010.[2]

In 2011, Clement joined the administration of Michigan's new governor, Rick Snyder, as deputy legal counsel.[3] In 2014, Clement was promoted to deputy chief of staff and added the position of Snyder's cabinet secretary in 2015.[3] She was promoted to Snyder's chief legal counsel in a staff shakeup by Snyder amidst the Flint water crisis in April 2016.[4]

Michigan Supreme Court Justice

On November 1, 2017, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Larsen was confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.[5] Larsen resigned from the Michigan Supreme Court soon after and received her commission on November 8, 2017.[6] The vacancy would be the fifth appointment of Snyder's to Michigan's high court, making Snyder the first governor since Supreme Court justices were elected starting in 1850 to be able to appoint a majority of the Court's members that were able to serve together.[3] (Larsen's [a Snyder appointee herself] replacement would serve with fellow Snyder appointees Brian K. Zahra, David Viviano and Kurtis T. Wilder) Clement was first mentioned as a potential candidate by the Gongwer News Service on November 1, 2017,[7] and Clement's appointment was leaked to the press on November 15, 2017. Snyder formally appointed Clement to the Michigan Supreme Court on November 17, 2017.[8] Clement is the third woman to serve in this seat on the Court during its eight-year term that was last up for election in 2010. Mary Beth Kelly was elected in November 2010, but announced her resignation from the Court in August 2015, to return to private practice effective October 1, 2015.[9] Following Larsen's appointment by Snyder in October 2015, Larsen was elected to fill the remaining two years of Kelly's term in November 2016.[10] After Larsen's resignation Clement served 12 months of the final 14 months of the term before she was elected to a full eight-year term in November 2018.[11]

Early in her tenure on the Court, Clement faced backlash from conservative activists over her being one of two Snyder appointees (along with Justice David Viviano to join the Court's two Democratic justices to allow a proposal that would create an independent commission to draw the state's Congressional boundaries to proceed to the November ballot.[12]

There was speculation that the Michigan Republican Party might have not endorsed Clement or nominated another candidate in her place. (Though candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court run on the non-partisan section of the ballot, the major two political parties nominate candidates for each seat)[13] Clement was booed at the Michigan Republican Convention in August 2018 when her name was brought up for nomination for a full term, but she was nominated for a full term along with fellow incumbent Justice Kurtis T. Wilder.[14] Clement later said she faced "bullying" and unusual "outside pressure" to vote to keep the redistricting proposal off the ballot.[15] Clement's name and picture were even kept off literature distributed by volunteers before the 2018 mid-term elections, a decision a Michigan GOP spokesman said was driven by the fact that some volunteers felt uncomfortable supporting Clement.[15] Despite this opposition, Clement was the only person nominated by the Michigan Republican Party to win a statewide election in 2018.

Personal life

Clement resides in East Lansing, Michigan with her husband and four children.[2][16] Her husband, Thomas P. Clement, has served as general counsel to the Michigan Supreme Court since May 2016.[7]

Electoral history
Michigan Supreme Court election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Non-partisan Elizabeth T. Clement (incumbent) 1,871,462 29.88
Non-partisan Megan Kathleen Cavanagh 1,584,512 25.3
Non-partisan Kurtis T. Wilder (incumbent) 1,519,394 24.26
Non-partisan Samuel Bagenstos 717,062 11.45
Non-partisan Kerry Lee Morgan 360,858 5.76
Non-partisan Doug Dern 209,103 3.34
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See also

References
  1. "MSU Law Alumna Elizabeth Clement to join the Michigan Supreme Court". Michigan State University College of Law. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  2. "Justice Elizabeth T. Clement". Michigan Supreme Court. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  3. Egan, Paul (November 17, 2017). "Snyder names Chief Legal Counsel Beth Clement to Michigan Supreme Court". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  4. Oosting, Jonathan (November 17, 2017). "Snyder taps staffer for Mich. Supreme Court". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  5. Egan, Paul (November 1, 2017). "U.S. Senate confirms appointment of Joan Larsen to federal appeals court". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  6. "Judges". United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  7. Egan, Paul (November 15, 2017). "Snyder expected to name Chief Legal Counsel Beth Clement to Michigan Supreme Court". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  8. Gibbons, Lauren (November 17, 2017). "Gov. Rick Snyder names Beth Clement to Michigan Supreme Court". MLive. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  9. Livengood, Chad (August 17, 2015). "Justice Kelly to leave Michigan Supreme Court". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  10. Gerstein, Michael (November 8, 2016). "Viviano, Larsen win re-election to Mich. Supreme Court". The Detroit News.
  11. Tresa Baldas (November 7, 2018). "Michigan Supreme Court seats still in the air, but Clement leads". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  12. Jonathan Oosting (July 31, 2018). "Mich. Supreme Court: Redistricting plan goes on Nov. ballot". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  13. Paul Egan (August 1, 2018). "Michigan GOP could drop support for judge over gerrymandering vote". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  14. Beth LeBlanc (August 25, 2018). "Mich. GOP convention: Leonard, Treder Lang get nod". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  15. Beth LeBlanc (September 24, 2018). "Michigan justice faced 'bullying' over redistricting plan". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  16. "Thomas P. Clement candidate for open 54-B District Court". Legalnews.com. Detroit Legal News Publishing LLC. May 3, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Joan Larsen		 Associate Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court
2017–present		 Incumbent
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