Stephen Borrello
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2003 - Present
2025
21
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Stephen L. Borrello is a judge of the Michigan 4th District Court of Appeals. He assumed office in 2003. His current term ends on January 1, 2025.
Borrello ran for re-election for judge of the Michigan 4th District Court of Appeals. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Additionally, in May 2015, Borrello was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to serve as a judge on the Michigan Court of Claims. This role was in addition to his appellate court duties. His term expired on May 1, 2019.[1][2]
Education
Borrello received his B.A. from Albion College and his J.D. from the Detroit College of Law.[3]
Career
- 2003 - Present: Judge, Michigan Fourth District Court of Appeals
- 2015-2019: Judge, Michigan Court of Claims
- 1990-2003: Partner, Gilbert, Smith & Borrello, P.C.
- 1988-1990: Assistant prosecuting attorney, Saginaw County
Borrello is also an adjunct professor of criminal procedure and evidence in the Department of Criminal Justice at Saginaw Valley State University.[3][4]
Awards and associations
- 1999-2003: Michigan Board of State Canvassers
- 1997: Co-chair of Senator Levin's Select Committee for the Appointment of Federal Judges to the Eastern District of Michigan
- 1996: Member of the 1996 Electoral College[4]
Political affiliation
Borrello is a former chairman of the Saginaw County Democratic Party.[5]
Publications
Publications include:
- OSHIA Update in Michigan (NBI Press 1995)
- Basic Labor Law (NBI Press 1996)
- Avoiding Secondary Activities, a Labor Leader's Manual
- Public Sector Labor Law
- Prevailing Wage Update and Practitioner's Guide[4]
Elections
2024
See also: Michigan intermediate appellate court elections, 2024
General election
General election for Michigan 4th District Court of Appeals
Incumbent Stephen L. Borrello won election in the general election for Michigan 4th District Court of Appeals on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Stephen L. Borrello (Nonpartisan) | 100.0 | 813,490 |
| Total votes: 813,490 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Stephen L. Borrello advanced from the primary for Michigan 4th District Court of Appeals.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
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Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Borrello in this election.
2018
General election
General election for Michigan 4th District Court of Appeals
Incumbent Stephen L. Borrello won election in the general election for Michigan 4th District Court of Appeals on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Stephen L. Borrello (Nonpartisan) | 100.0 | 744,970 |
| Total votes: 744,970 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Selection method
- See also: Nonpartisan election of judges
The 28 judges of the Michigan Court of Appeals are chosen in nonpartisan elections and must face re-election if they wish to continue serving. A full term on the court is six years. Candidates are placed on the ballot via nonpartisan primaries or by nominating petitions.[6] The process for filling vacancies on the appeals court is identical to that used by the supreme court. With the assistance of the judicial qualifications committee, the governor names a replacement to serve until the next general election.[6]
Qualifications
To be elected to the court, a judge must:
- be a qualified elector of his or her district;
- be licensed to practice law in the state;
- have at least five years of law practice experience;
- be under the age of 70.[6]
Sitting judges who reach age 70 are allowed to serve out the remainder of their term.[7]
Selection of the chief judge
The chief judge of the appeals court is selected by supreme court appointment to terms lasting two years.[6]
2012
Judge Borrello was re-elected after running unopposed in the general election on November 6, 2012.[8][9]
- See also: Michigan judicial elections, 2012
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Stephen L. Borrello did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Noteworthy cases
First Amendment ruling
In a two to one decision, the Michigan Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Eastern Michigan University. During a National Public Radio newscast, disc jockey Terry Hughes commented favorably on the war in Iraq, rather than running the hourly newscasts. He is quoted as saying, "We are supposed to be running news during the program. But that's not going to happen. . . . We know that if you want a current and accurate assessment of what's going on, you sure as hell ain't listening to us."[10] According to court documents, he instead referred listeners to Fox News. The appellate court agreed with the trial court that Hughes had committed insubordination. Judge Stephen Borrello dissented, saying, "[d]ue to the nature of his job as host of the music show, plaintiff's on-air speech was an integral part of his job...Nevertheless, the fact that speaking on the air was generally part of his job duties does not compel the conclusion that the specific speech at issue was made pursuant to his employment duties."[10]
Court ruling on home-schooled athletes
A unanimous decision from the Michigan Court of Appeals found that home-schooled students do not have the same rights as public-schooled students. Home-schooled students do not have a right to play for sports teams of schools in their district. The court cited a Michigan Supreme Court's decision that states "that students at nonpublic schools without extracurricular activities must be allowed to enroll in that public school activity."[11] According to state law, schools are required to allow students to develop their intellectual capacities. Sports do not fall under that. Judge Stephen Borrello, joined by Judge Patrick Meter, said Michigan state laws do not require schools to allow home-schooled students to join sports programs. Judge Michael Talbot concurred in the decision."But plaintiffs have not asserted that interscholastic sports develop either their children's intellectual capacities or vocational skills," the court said.[11] "The Court did not opine or even suggest that nonpublic school students were entitled to participate in extracurricular interscholastic athletic events, and nothing in (its) opinion dictates that conclusion. Unlike a state requirement that all students be taught by certified teachers that the Supreme Court found did violate religious rights, the sports rules do not inescapably compel conduct that the parents find objectionable for religious reasons," the Court of Appeals said.[11] "Rather, by exercising their right to practice their religion through homeschooling their children, plaintiffs made a choice between homeschooling their children and having them participate in extracurricular interscholastic athletic competition," the court said.[11]
Fourth Amendment dissent
In a two to one decision, the Michigan Court of Appeals overturned a district court ruling that suppressed evidence that had been obtained by using dogs to sniff outside a house for drugs. Police used the drug dogs' signals to obtain a search warrant to enter the residence, where they found marijuana and a gun. According to the Toledo Blade, Judges E. Thomas Fitzgerald (Michigan) and William B. Murphy, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent, said a canine sniff is not a search as defined under Fourth Amendment law. They said there is no reasonable expectation of privacy at the entrance to property that is open to the public, including the front porch of a home. In his dissent, Judge Stephen Borrello wrote, "A person's home is not some abstract place or location for which it is unclear whether the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy."[12]
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Footnotes
- ↑ Michigan Courts, "Michigan Court of Claims," accessed May 5, 2015
- ↑ Michigan Courts, "Order: Assignment of Judges to the Court of Claims and Reappointment of Chief Judge," accessed April 29, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Court of Appeals, "Judge Borrello's Bio"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Saginaw Valley State University, "Stephen L. Borrello"
- ↑ St. Ignace News, "Judge Politics May Hurt Sen. Stabenow," May 4, 2005
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Michigan," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Daily, "Washtenaw County judge announces early retirement," May 1, 2014
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, Unofficial 2012 General Election Results:4th District Court of Appeals Judge
- ↑ Michigan Department of State, "2012 Unofficial Michigan Primary Candidate Listing," July 31, 2012
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 SPLC, "Host fired from university radio station plans appeal of court ruling"
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Bridges 4 Kids, "Home Schoolers Do Not Have Right to Play on HS Teams"
- ↑ Toldeo Blade, "Court relaxes guide for police dog drug search, can search private property"
Federal courts:
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan
State courts:
Michigan Supreme Court • Michigan Court of Appeals • Michigan Circuit Court • Michigan District Courts • Michigan Probate Courts
State resources:
Courts in Michigan • Michigan judicial elections • Judicial selection in Michigan
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