UNREPORTED MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT OPINIONS, 1836-1843

Authors

Clark F. Norton, University of MichiganFollow

Abstract

It is a commonly known fact that, although Michigan was admitted to the Union in 1837 (many of her citizens had claimed statehood for more than a year prior to her formal admission), few opinions of the state supreme court written before 1843 have ever been published. Why a period of almost ten years should have elapsed before the first volume of state reports was issued in 1846 ( with the exception of two volumes of chancery reports), or why the early reporters seem, from a casual examination, to have neglected decisions of the court before 1843, or what happened to the opinions, if any, that were rendered by supreme court justices during the first seven years of the state's existence, are questions which have never been answered adequately. The purpose here, then, is to present information on these obscure topics as well as on other matters closely related thereto, and to provide a brief summary of all the unpublished manuscript opinions of the court that have been located up to the present time.

Recommended Citation

Clark F. Norton, UNREPORTED MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT OPINIONS, 1836-1843, 42 Mich. L. Rev. 87 (1943).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol42/iss1/5