September 2021 Newsletter - Third Judicial Circuit of Michigan
Greetings,

The Third Circuit Court is completing its listening tour. Pursuant to Administrative Order 2020-08, the court’s leadership team convened meetings with justice stakeholders and partners to solicit feedback regarding their courts’ operations during the pandemic.

Chief Judge Timothy M. Kenny presided over the meetings for each division. Along with Chief Judge Kenny, the Presiding Judges and Deputy Court Administrators listened to the various stakeholders. Invitees included the local bar associations, local legal aid organization, the County Clerk, the County Prosecuting Attorney, representatives from the local defense counsel, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, law enforcement, fatherhood groups, nongovernmental agencies and organization. The State Court Administrative Office Regional Director attended.  The stakeholders shared suggestions, their challenging experiences, and compliments. The overwhelming response was that Zoom should definitely be incorporated into the routine business operations, and the Court should focus on working out the glitches and helping those who were challenged to participate due to their internet or equipment. The Court was acknowledged for safely resuming jury trials. 

The listening does not end there; if any stakeholder has comments, suggestions, or other feedback they are invited to submit those to Executive Court Administration at ExecutiveCourtAdministrationOffice@3rdcc.org. Don’t hesitate to speak up. Third Circuit Court is listening. 

Chief Judge Kenny will use the information to work with the judges and administrators in the division to chart the future course for the Court. Those plans will be shared in stakeholders meetings, on the Court’s website and social media platform, and right here in the monthly newsletter.  
Yvonna C. Abraham
Judge Yvonna C. Abraham was appointed as Judge to the Wayne County Circuit Court on July 1, 2021.  Prior to her appointment she was a Magistrate and Director of Probation with the 20th District Court in Dearborn Heights. Judge Abraham earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She serves as a faculty member for the Michigan Judicial Institute, New Magistrate Training Seminar and as an adjunct professor at Lawrence Technological University teaching courses in business law. She was the President of the Michigan Association of District Court Magistrates prior to her appointment, and currently a member of the State Bar Judicial Ethics Committee, a member of the State Court Administrator's Office court forms committee, and Women Lawyer Association of Michigan. She is also a member of the Henry Ford College Business Advisory Board, the Wayne Mental Health Advisory Board, the Arab American Women’s Business Council Board, Dearborn Heights Rotary Board, and HYPE Athletics Community Board. Judge Abraham enjoys spending her time mentoring aspiring law students and providing internship opportunities to college students.
Karen Braxton
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has appointed Judge Karen Braxton to the Michigan’s Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform. The work of the Task Force as described on its web page is to focus on analyzing our juvenile justice system, while recommending proven practices and strategies for reform grounded in data, research, and fundamental constitutional principles.  Judge Braxton was elected to the Third Circuit Court in 2012, serves in the Juvenile Family Division, and presides over the Juvenile Drug Court Program. 
THE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION CALENDAR

The Third Circuit Court Diversity and Inclusion Team’s Mission: "We appreciate our common connection and respect our diverse and unique human experiences. We move forward as an inclusive organization as we provide accessible and equal justice."

The Court’s Diversity & Inclusion Team strives to ensure the values of its diverse bench, staff, and court users are acknowledged and reflected in our delivery of service as well as our work environment.

In that spirit, the team creates and shares a monthly list of various holidays and observations along with some celebration suggestions. We invite our work community and the community at large to contribute.
OCTOBER 2021

International Day of Older Persons - October 1   
World Vegetarian Day - October 1
World Smile Day - October 1
Int’l Day of Non-Violence - October 2
National Taco Day - October 4
World Teachers’ Day - October 5
German-American Day - October 6
World Mental Health Day - October 10
National Coming Out Day - October 11
Columbus Day - October 11
Indigenous Peoples’ Day - October 11
National Farmer’s Day - October 12
World Food Day - October 16
Pronouns Day - October 20
National Chocolate Day - October 28
World Stroke Day - October 29
Halloween - October 31