Michiganders will decide in November who gets to serve on the most powerful court in the state. And Kimberly Ann Thomas thinks she has the experience needed for the job.
MICHIGAN—Kimberly Ann Thomas likes to approach every issue with an open mind.
As a Democratic-backed candidate running for one of two open seats on the Michigan Supreme Court this year, Thomas has kept relatively quiet about her personal viewpoints and opinions on a wide array of important legal issues that may come before the Court.
“I don’t prescribe to a particular philosophy,” Thomas told The ‘Gander in an exclusive interview. “I think we need our state court justices to get it right. We really need them to be careful. We need them to do all the work. We need them to listen, pay attention, and not think they know it all right away. … If people are going to go to the courts and feel like they can go there and get a fair hearing, that’s a really important piece of how our court systems need to be reliable.”
After all, Michigan’s Code of Judicial Conduct requires that Thomas—and all other judicial candidates—avoid “impropriety and the appearance of impropriety,” so as not to appear biased on high-stakes issues like abortion access, LGBTQ rights, gun safety measures and more.
“We want to make sure that people don’t think that those cases are pre-judged, and also that we wouldn’t have to recuse ourselves from a case that involved an area of law that we’ve made a statement on,” Thomas said during a recent interview with Detroit in Black and White.
That code of conduct is designed to create an impartial justice system. But it can also make it challenging for voters to identify which candidates align most closely with their personal values.
So, as millions of Michiganders prepare to head to the polls this year, Thomas is encouraging them all to spend some time exploring her background and courtroom experience (as well as her endorsements) to decide whether she truly deserves a spot on the bench next year.
To help, here are five things to know about Thomas and her track record:
1.) Thomas has a lot of experience.
Thomas is a law professor at the University of Michigan Law School, which is routinely ranked as one of the top law schools in the country. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and her law degree from Harvard Law School.
Before joining the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2003, Thomas worked as a trial attorney in the city of Philadelphia. She also served as a former editorial board member of the Clinical Law Review, which is devoted to issues of lawyering theory and clinical legal education.
As a Fulbright Scholar award recipient, Thomas has also taught law in Ireland and worked on curriculum development in Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey. In 2013, she was also among several attorneys honored with the Justice for All award from Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan.
2.) Reproductive rights groups trust Thomas to protect abortion access.
Ahead of the election, Thomas has rounded up support from Reproductive Freedom for All, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, the Michigan Nurses Association, the Michigan Democratic Party, and other groups with lengthy records of defending reproductive rights.
The Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, which backs candidates based on their “demonstrated interest in advancing the cause of women in general” has also endorsed Thomas, as has Fems for Democracy, which has a long history of supporting abortion rights.
EMILY’s List has endorsed Thomas this year as well—namely because of her “dedication and tenacity,” as well as the “critical role that state Supreme Courts play in protecting our reproductive freedom,” EMILY’s List President Jessica Mackler said in a statement.
“Thomas spent her life pursuing justice for lower-income Americans and youth, and her devotion to defending our freedom is unparalleled,” Mackler said. “Ensuring a strong pro-choice majority on the state’s Supreme Court is critical to safeguard abortion access for years to come.”
3.) Thomas is an expert in juvenile justice and legal ethics.
Thomas runs the Juvenile Justice clinic at the University of Michigan Law School, where she and law school students represent people who cannot afford to hire lawyers of their own.
In an interview with The ‘Gander, Thomas said that her experience representing low-income Michiganders and teaching students the ethical practice of law will help her bring a new “voice of integrity and knowledge” to the Michigan Supreme Court next year, ensuring access to justice and that each litigant is both heard and respected when they come into the courtroom.
“That’s what led me to law school,” Thomas explained. “I felt passionately about people being heard in our legal system no matter where they came from or who they were. … I really understand how our court systems function, what that experience is like, what clients feel in that system, and how they want to be heard. They want to make sure their voices are respected.”
Thomas was also appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to serve on the state’s bipartisan Michigan Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform—which took a data-driven approach to understanding and making recommendations for improvement of our state’s juvenile system.
“Because I teach at a law school and because I’ve had an opportunity to work for the governor’s task force to think about bigger picture ideas, I can think more holistically about our court systems, about what really matters fundamentally in our state Supreme Court,” Thomas said.
4.) Before Thomas made headlines as a lawyer and professor, she helped write them—as a journalist.
Before she enrolled in law school, Thomas worked as a reporter at the Detroit News. As a member of the Newspaper Guild of Detroit union, Thomas said that she and her colleagues went on strike to push for fair wages—and she ultimately never returned to the newsroom.
“That helped solidify for me, frankly, the importance of law on peoples’ lives, so I decided to go to law school,” Thomas said in a recent interview. “I went from the picket line to law school.”
5.) Thomas loves Michigan’s great outdoors.
In her free time, and when she’s not volunteering at her kid’s school as a science olympiad coach, Thomas said that she enjoys exploring and camping in state parks across Michigan.
READ MORE: Supreme Court election could spell big changes for Michiganders’ rights
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