Minority Justices

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Minority Justices
In the Face of Adversity
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• Otis M. Smith
• Mary S. Coleman
• Dorothy Comstock Riley
• Conrad L. Mallett, Jr.
• Dennis W. Archer

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Otis M. Smith

• First African American Michigan Supreme Court
  Justice
• Born in Memphis, Tennessee, 1922
• Education
• Fisk University
• Syracuse University
• J.D. from Catholic University Law School in
  Washington D.C.

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Otis M. Smith

• Appointed to the Bench in 1961 and served through
  1967
• Adversity Served at a time of unrest, when civil
  rights issues were being hotly debated across the
  nation. Because of his light skin, he was both
  accepted and discriminated against by Whites and
  African Americans
• Involvement/Personality
• Civil and Courteous
• Active with NAACP and Big Brothers

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Mary S. Coleman

• First woman to serve on the Michigan Supreme
  Court
• Born in Forney, Texas, 1914
• Education
• University of Maryland
• Law School George Washington University

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Mary S. Coleman

• Served from 1973-1982 after election in 1972
• Served as Chief Justice from 1979-1982
• Credited with
• Reorganizing the Michigan Court system
• Establishing the 1963 Constitutions call for
  one court of justice

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Dorothy Comstock Riley

• First woman appointed to the Michigan Court of
  Appeals
• Adversity Interviewed with law firms at a time
  when there were very few women lawyers. The first
  question she was often asked was how fast she
  could type. So, she practiced on her own for six
  years and made a name for herself that way.
• Born in Detroit, 1924
• Education
• B.A. Wayne State University
• Legal training at Wayne State University

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Dorothy Comstock Riley

• Supreme Court service
• Served on the Supreme Court from 1982-1983
• Served again from 1985-1997
• Retired when Parkinsons Disease set in
• Founder of the Michigan Supreme Court Historical
  Society

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Conrad L. Mallett, Jr.

• First African-American Chief Justice of the
  Michigan Supreme Court
• Born in Detroit, 1953
• Education
• B.A. University of California Los Angeles
• J.D. University of Southern California

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Conrad L. Mallett, Jr.

• Served the Court from 1990 1998
• Appointed in 1990
• Re-election to two-year term in 1992
• Re-election in 1994 to eight-year term
• Resigned in 1998 to practice in the private sector

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Conrad L. Mallett, Jr.

• Career
• Director of Legislative Affairs for Michigan
  Governor James J. Blanchard from 1983-1984
• Director and Executive Assistant to Detroit Mayor
  Coleman Young from 1985-1986
• Involvement
• Numerous state and national legal organizations
• NAACP member

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Dennis W. Archer

• Born in Detroit, 1942
• Education
• Wayne State University studied pharmacy
• Western Michigan University transferred there
  to become a History teacher but became a Special
  Education teacher
• Worked on Law Degree at night at Detroit College
  of Law

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Dennis W. Archer

• Service to the Michigan Supreme Court
• Appointed to the Court in 1985
• Elected to an 8-year term in 1986
• Resigned in 1990 to resume private practice
• Became Mayor of Detroit

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Dennis W. Archer

• Involvement
• Numerous professional organizations
• NAACP life-member
• Michigan Cancer Foundation
• Other Organizations