Michael Smolenski

Michael Smolenski was a judge of the Michigan Third District Court of Appeals who was elected in 1994 and served as Chief Judge Pro Tem of the Court from 2004 to 2006. He retired on December 31, 2008 and was replaced by Douglas Shapiro.

Education and experience

Judge Smolenski received his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Michigan. Previously, he served as a judge of the Kent Circuit Court, as a district court judge, as a Grand Rapids city attorney, as a Kent County commissioner, as a JAG officer, as a special court martial judge in the US Marine Corps, and as an attorney in private practice.

Artist wins First Amendment case

In a two-to-one decision to reverse a decision from a lower court's misdemeanor conviction by a jury. Judges William Murphy and Michael Smolenski determined "'Prohibiting lettering completely appears to be an excessive restriction compared to the interests sought to be advanced," the appeals says in its ruling. "Indeed, it does not appear the word 'Love' on the mural would district motorists or distract from the aesthetic value of the neighborhood. The judges say the variance "was an unconstitutional regulation of speech, infringing on defendant's First Amendment protections.'" Artist Edward Stross benefitted from the ruling that overturns his 2005 conviction. He had been convicted for violating a zoning variance, according to The Macomb Daily. Judge Bill Schuette dissented, writing the mural is not protected by the right to free speech because he consideres it to be an "advertisement" or "commercial speech...Although not selling anything directly, the mural gives credibility to Stross as an artist. The obvious economic motivation for the mural is to draw attention to defendant's talent in hope of attracting persons in need of an artist's service," Schuette says.

Matrimony overrides paternity

According to state paternity law, based on Lord Mansfield's Rule, a child born into a marriage is a product of said marriage. The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision to uphold that law, and was signed by Judges Richard Bandstra, Michael Smolenski, and Henry Saad. Two years after his biological son's birth, Bill Numerick, Jr. had not seen his son. The reason: early in his girlfriend's pregnancy, she ended the relationship and married another man. The courts maintained the law as it is believed that "a child is best born to a married mother and father. Such a presumption helps protect the sanctity of marriage."

See also

• Michigan
• Michigan Supreme Court
• Michigan Court of Appeals

External links

• The Court of Appeals: Michael Smolenski
• Judge Smolenski named Michigan Court of Appeals Chief Judge Pro Tem
• The Institute of Continuing Legal Education
• Court: Adultery could mean life
• Detroit Free Press
• The Macomb Daily (dead link)
• He says he's the biological father, but law says matrimony trumps DNA
• Smolenski's sister runs for District Court
• MLive
• Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems
• Judge Smolenski's Biography
• Lansing State Journal
• Detroit Free Press