Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Colleen O'Brien
2015 - Present
2029
10
Colleen O'Brien is a judge of the Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals. She assumed office in 2015. Her current term ends on January 1, 2029.
O'Brien ran for re-election for judge of the Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
O'Brien was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to serve as a judge on the Michigan Court of Claims. This role is in addition to her appellate court duties. Her term expired on May 1, 2021.[1][2]
Education
O'Brien received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1978 and her J.D. from Detroit College of Law in 1981.[3]
Career
O'Brien was an attorney in private practice at Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho PLC, with an emphasis in civil litigation, for 17 years before becoming a circuit court judge in late 1998. She was a judge on the Michigan 6th Circuit Court in Oakland County, appointed to the position by Gov. John Engler (R) and later elected to a full term by voters. She succeeded the late Judge Robert Anderson. She took office on November 18, 1998. She was last re-elected on November 2, 2010, to a six-year term before being appointed in 2015 to the court of appeals.[4][3][5][6][7][8] As a circuit judge, O'Brien oversaw the Female Adult Sobriety Court.[9]
Awards and associations
- President, Michigan Judges Association[4]
Noteworthy cases
In December 2011, O'Brien dismissed a lawsuit filed by the ACLU challenging ordinances in the city of Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham, in which they argued that they were preempted by the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act of 2008, on the basis that none of the plaintiffs were arrested.[10][11]
In August 2011, O'Brien granted a motion from the prosecutors to preclude defendant Alexander Vlasenko from asserting a defense under the state's medical marijuana law, Vlasenko faced three counts of delivery and "manufacture" of marijuana and was prohibited from mentioning medical marijuana during his trial. O'Brien acknowledged that three Oakland County narcotics detectives used fake cards to purchase medical marijuana from Vlasenko at a dispensary, and wrote that Vlasenko could not assert an affirmative defense under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act because "nothing in the MMMA provides for qualifying patients to engage in transfers or deliveries of marijuana to other persons, qualified or not, when the delivery is made outside of a caregiver/qualified patient relationship."[12]
Elections
2022
See also: Michigan intermediate appellate court elections, 2022
General election
General election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals
Incumbent Colleen O'Brien won election in the general election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Colleen O'Brien (Nonpartisan) | 100.0 | 654,634 |
| Total votes: 654,634 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
2016
O'Brien filed to run for election to her seat in 2016.[13] She was unopposed.
Election results
November 8 general election
Incumbent Colleen O'Brien ran unopposed in the general election for the Michigan Second District Court of Appeals, O'Brien's seat.
| Michigan Second District Court of Appeals, O'Brien's Seat, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Colleen O'Brien Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 747,475 | |
| Total Votes (86 of 83 counties: 100%) | 747,475 | |||
| Source: Michigan Secretary of State Official Results | ||||
2012
O'Brien was one of seven candidates running for two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court in the November 2012 election. Though the race was nonpartisan, she was nominated at the Michigan Republican Convention in September.[14][15] O'Brien was narrowly defeated in the race, receiving 21.42 percent of the vote.[16]
- See also: Michigan judicial elections, 2012
Bar association ratings
Women Lawyers Association of Michigan
The WLAM rated candidates running for judicial office with one of four ratings: Outstanding, Well Qualified, Qualified or No Rating.
O'Brien was rated as Qualified.[17]
Endorsements
- The Macomb Daily. To read the endorsement, see: The Macomb Daily, "Editorial: Preferred judicial candidates favor a nonpartisan court," October 28, 2012.
- Michigan Chamber of Commerce. [www.michamber.com/michigan-chamber-endorses-three-candidates-michigan-supreme-court Michigan Chamber of Commerce, "Michigan Chamber Endorses Three Candidates for Michigan Supreme Court"]
2010
- Main article: Michigan judicial elections, 2010
O'Brien was re-elected (along with 4 other judges) in the general election on November 2, 2010. She received 21.12 percent of the vote.[7]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Colleen O'Brien did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
|
Officeholder Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals |
Footnotes
- ↑ Michigan Courts, "Michigan Court of Claims," accessed February 14, 2019
- ↑ Michigan Supreme Court, "Assignment of Judges to the Court of Claims and Reappointment of Chief Judge," April 18, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Oakland County, "Hon. Colleen O'Brien"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Crain's Detroit Business, "Oakland Circuit Judge Colleen O'Brien appointed to Michigan appeals court," September 29, 2015
- ↑ Michigan Government, "Governor Appoints O'Brien to Sixth Circuit Court in Oakland County," November 6, 1998
- ↑ State of Michigan Department of State, "1998 Election Results: 6th Circuit Court"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 State of Michigan Department of State, "2010 Unofficial General Election Results: 6th Circuit Court"
- ↑ List of Michigan Circuit Courts
- ↑ Colleen O'Brien 2012 Campaign, "About"
- ↑ Michigan Medical Marijuana Act
- ↑ Bloomingfield-MI Patch, "Judge dismisses medical marijuana case against Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham
- ↑ Toke of the Town, "Mich. Judge: Med marijuana law does not protect dispensaries," August 23, 2011
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2016 Michigan Candidate Listing," accessed March 24, 2016
- ↑ Detroit News, "Michigan GOP picks Oakland's O'Brien for Supreme Court race"
- ↑ Clinton County Republican Party, "2012 Candidates"
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, "Official 2012 General Election Results: Supreme Court"
- ↑ Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, Press Release: "WLAM Endorses, Rates Judicial Candidates"
| ||||||||||
