By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI – The Michigan Supreme Court held its first public hearing of the 2010-2011 term Wednesday.
Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly acknowledged that the bench looks different than it did the last time the judges formally appeared together in public.
"I'm delighted to tell you that we are not constituted as we were before," Kelly says. "We have a new justice with us, and that's Justice Alton Davis."
Justice Davis is a northern Michigan Democrat who replaced former justice Elizabeth Weaver, a Republican who often voted with her Democratic colleagues. Governor Granholm appointed Davis to the seat when Weaver resigned a few weeks ago.