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“We’re already on a much better trajectory than we’ve been during my 11 years,” he said. “I’m very optimistic that everybody really wants to turn the page. We don’t want to continue to be at one another’s necks. The campaign is over, and I’m looking forward to vigorous but not personal and negative debate about the things that really matter.”

During the campaign slugfest, former Justice Elizabeth Weaver accused Justice Young of having used the N-word and sexist language during a conference of the justices, and she disclosed a transcript from a recording she had made. Last month, the state Supreme Court censured her (see Gavel Grab).

The Detroit News article quoted defense lawyer Geoffrey Fieger as saying Justice Young is “temperamentally unqualified to be a judge” and is “the most blatantly political judge in America.”

Meanwhile Jeff Williams of Public Sector Consultants pointed to a “larger acrimony in Michigan about all things political.”

The public would like to think the court is apolitical, he said. “But the court’s showing the same tension that the Legislature has shown over the last four to six years ? just very divided, partisan battles and not a lot of discussion going on between the different sides.”

Separately, former Justice Weaver talked about her years on the state Supreme Court in an interview with the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

That article quoted the Michigan Campaign Finance Network as reporting that about $9.5 million was spent on the state Supreme Court races in 2010. MCFN is a Justice at Stake partner.

“In 2008, just over half of the money in that campaign was undisclosed, not part of the campaign finance reporting system,” Robinson said. “This time it was two-thirds. From the aspect of accountability, this year’s campaign was the worst of a bad decade.”

Justice Alton Davis, who was appointed this year to the high court and then defeated in November, talked about the court in an interview with the Detroit Free Press. A thank-you goes out to the How Appealing blog for these links.