Kurtis T. Wilder

American judge

Kurtis Wilder

Associate Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court
In office May 9, 2017 – January 1, 2019
Appointed by	Rick Snyder
Preceded by	Robert P. Young Jr.
Succeeded by	Megan Cavanagh

Personal details
Born	(1959-04-26) April 26, 1959 (age 64) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Children	2
Education	University of Michigan (A.B.) University of Michigan Law School (J.D.)

Kurtis T. Wilder (born April 26, 1959) is a former associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, appointed in May 2017 by Gov. Rick Snyder.

Biography

Wilder was born in Cleveland, Ohio, educated in the public schools and graduated from Cleveland Heights High School. He then attended the University of Michigan, graduating in 1981 with an A.B. degree in political science, and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1984.^[1] After law school, he was in private practice with Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith P.C. in Lansing, and Butzel Long P.C. in Detroit.

In March 1992, Governor John Engler appointed Wilder as judge of the Washtenaw County Circuit Court to complete the six-year term of Ross W. Campbell.^[2]^[3] In November 1992, Wilder was elected to a full term, and was the first African American judge elected in that county.^[2]^[4]^[5] In December 1998, Governor Engler elevated Wilder to the Michigan First District Court of Appeals.^[6]^[7] Wilder was elected in 2000, and re-elected in 2004, 2010 and 2016.^[8]

On May 9, 2017, Governor Snyder appointed Wilder to the Michigan Supreme Court.^[9]^[10] Wilder completed his predecessor Robert P. Young Jr.'s term in December 2018.^[10]

In November 2018, Wilder ran unsuccessfully for election to a full eight-year term but was defeated by Megan Cavanagh in the election by 54,000 votes out of 3 million cast.^[11]^[12] His departure left the Court with no sitting African-American justice.^[13] After leaving office, he returned to practice law at Butzel Long.^[14]

In July 2017, Wilder received the Honorable Harold Hood Award, presented by the Association of Black Judges of Michigan.^[5] In October 2018, he was presented the Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Integrity Award.^[15]

He is a member of the Federalist Society.^[16]

Personal life

Wilder lives in Canton, Michigan, and has two children.^[10]

References

^ "A look at candidates for the Michigan Court of Appeals". Detroit Legal News. October 7, 2010. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
^ ^a ^b Oppat, Susan (November 4, 1992). "Judge Kurtis T. Wilder Wins Circuit Court Election". Ann Arbor News. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
^ Feller, Lennie (January 12, 1996). "Police Will Return Blood Samples to 160 Men". Michigan Daily. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
^ Cobbs, Liz (August 5, 1992). "Farmer, Wilder To Battle For Court Slot In Fall Contest". Ann Arbor News. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
^ ^a ^b Brand-Williams, Oralandar (July 6, 2017). "Mich. high court justice Wilder gets Harold Hood award". Detroit News. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
^ Pfund, Emily (June 20, 2012). "Judge Kurtis T. Wilder to speak at Tea Party meeting". Mlive.com. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
^ Climie, Jordan (May 12, 2017). "Michigan's highest court shuffles judges". Holland Sentinel. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
^ Oosting, Jonathan (May 9, 2017). "Snyder picks Wilder for Michigan Supreme Court". Detroit News. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
^ Egan, Paul (May 9, 2017). "Snyder names Judge Kurtis Wilder to Michigan Supreme Court". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Gov. Snyder names Judge Kurtis T. Wilder to Michigan Supreme Court". Governor Rick Snyder, State of Michigan. May 9, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
^ "Cavanagh wins Supreme Court race by very thin margin". WILX 10 NBC. November 8, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
^ "Kurtis Wilder Says He's Lost Supreme Court race". CBS News Detroit. Associated Press. November 7, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
^ Thompson, Bankole (December 5, 2018). "Opinion: Bankole: Why there's no diversity on Michigan's high court". Detroit News. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
^ Jibrell, Anisa (January 14, 2019). "Former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kurtis Wilder returns to Butzel Long". Craine's Detroit. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
^ "Justice Kurtis Wilder Presented with WMU-Cooley Integrity Award". Cooley Law School, Western Michigan University. November 7, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
^ Curry, George (2003). The Best of Emerge Magazine. New York, NY: Ballantine Books. p. 539. ISBN 9780345462282. Retrieved November 25, 2017. In Michigan, judges aligned with the Federalist Society included...Kurtis T. Wilder.