Bill Text: MI HCR0028 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: A concurrent resolution of tribute offered as a memorial for the Honorable Thomas Brennan, former Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-12-06 - Adopted By Senate - Referred To The Clerk For Record [HCR0028 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2017-HCR0028-Engrossed.html
The Speaker, on behalf of the entire membership of the House of Representatives, offered the following concurrent resolution:
House Concurrent Resolution No. 28.
A concurrent resolution of tribute offered as a memorial for the Honorable Thomas Brennan, former Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.
Whereas, This body was saddened to learn of the passing of Judge Thomas Brennan, the eighty-first justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and founder of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. He was an engaged legal and creative thinker and left an indelible imprint on the Michigan system of jurisprudence; and
Whereas, Thomas Brennan graduated from Detroit Catholic Central High School and the University of Detroit, earning his law degree from the University of Detroit Law School in 1952. There were no limits to his dreams in his multi-faceted career, as attorney, politician, judge, and educator. He worked as an attorney and became active in state politics, running multiple times for legislative seats, before being elected to sit on the Common Pleas Bench in 1961. He was later appointed, then elected, to the Wayne County Circuit Court; and
Whereas, At the urging of Governor Romney, Justice Brennan ran for and was elected to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1966 at age 37, the youngest justice in state history. Later, he led his judicial colleagues as Chief Justice, also the youngest ever; and
Whereas, Justice Brennan founded the Cooley Law School in 1972 and resigned from the Supreme Court to serve as its first dean and president for the next 20 years. He mentored many future attorneys and was extremely proud of the success of Cooley's students, faculty, and staff as they collaborated to learn and teach the law and its practice. With a philosophy of better access to legal education, Justice Brennan imparted legal knowledge, skills, and ethics to generations of students. Cooley Law School was the second largest law school in the country in 2002, when Justice Brennan retired; and
Whereas, In later years, Justice Brennan became an author and blogger. His works, Judging the Law Schools and Starting a Law School, imparted his ideas on using data to rank law schools and the act of creating, founding, and launching an institution. His insightful blog, oldjudgesays, was online for about ten years and enjoyed by many; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That we offer this expression of our highest tribute to honor the memory of Justice Thomas Brennan and his commitment, courage, and ingenuity; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Brennan family as evidence of our lasting esteem for his memory.
