Order Michigan Supreme Court
Lansing, Michigan
September 28, 2007 Clifford W. Taylor,
Chief Justice
Rehearing No. 539 Michael F. Cavanagh
Elizabeth A. Weaver
Marilyn Kelly
Maura D. Corrigan
131517 Robert P. Young, Jr.
Stephen J. Markman,
Justices
IN RE CERTIFIED QUESTION FROM
THE FOURTEENTH COURT OF
APPEALS DISTRICT OF TEXAS,
_________________________________________/
GLENN MILLER, ESTATE OF CAROLYN
MILLER, SHAWN DEAN, JOHN ROLAND,
and ALMA ROLAND,
Plaintiffs,
v SC: 131517
CA-14: 14-05-00026-CV
239th DC: 15077*JG01
FORD MOTOR COMPANY,
Defendant.
_________________________________________/
In this cause, a motion for rehearing is considered, and it is DENIED.
CAVANAGH and KELLY, JJ., would grant rehearing.
WEAVER, J., dissents and states as follows:
I dissent from this Court’s decision to deny plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration.
I would grant the motion for reconsideration and vacate the Court’s decision answering a
certified question from the Fourteenth District Court of Appeals of Texas.
This Court’s decision to answer the certified question in this case should be
vacated because MCR 7.305(B), the Michigan court rule allowing the Court to answer
certified questions from other courts, goes beyond this court’s constitutional authority to
2
answer certified questions.1 Further, the majority’s decision to answer the certified
question in this case is unprecedented and unnecessary.2
1
See In re Certified Question (Miller v Ford Motor Co), 479 Mich 498, 548 (2007)
(Weaver, J., dissenting); see also Proposed Amendment of MCR 7.305, 462 Mich 1208
(2000) (Weaver, J., dissenting); In re Certified Question (Wayne Co v Philip Morris Inc),
622 NW2d 518 (Mich, 2001) (Weaver, J., dissenting); In re Certified Question (Kenneth
Henes Special Projects Procurement, Marketing & Consulting Corp v Continental
Biomass Industries, Inc), 468 Mich 109, 134 (2003) (Weaver, J., concurring in the result
only); In re Certified Questions (Melson v Prime Ins Syndicate, Inc), 472 Mich 1225
(2005) (Weaver, J., concurring); In re Certified Question (Bankey v Storer Broadcasting
Co), 432 Mich 438, 467-471 (1989) (opinion by Levin, J.).
2
See In re Certified Question (Miller v Ford Motor Co), supra at 553 (2007) (Weaver, J.,
dissenting); see also Berg, Cherry picking: In deciding a certified question from Texas,
the MSC took the law it liked, and left the rest, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, August 20,
2007, p 1 ; 21 Mich L W 1129;
(accessed September 17, 2007).
I, Corbin R. Davis, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the
foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court.
September 28, 2007 _________________________________________
t0925 Clerk