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Speaker 1: What's It's way up with Angela Yee and I am

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Speaker 1: on my best behavior today because Justice Kira Harris Bolden

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Speaker 1: is in the building.

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Speaker 2: Hello, how are you feeling?

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Speaker 3: Hello? I feel great. Thank you so much for having me.

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Speaker 1: Before I started the show, was trying to come up

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Speaker 1: with like a nickname, you know, KHB. Yes, Kira Harris Bolden,

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Speaker 1: but then we said maybe big Bolden, Big Bolden, like

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Speaker 1: you know. But I do want to just take a

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Speaker 1: moment to also commend you and shine a light on

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Speaker 1: you because you have broken a lot of barriers and

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Speaker 1: your story is so amazing and fascinating.

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Speaker 2: I feel like everybody needs to know it.

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Speaker 1: But you're the first black female Supreme Court justice and

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Speaker 1: that is amazing because, like we always say, if you

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Speaker 1: can see it, you can be it. Yes, And so

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Speaker 1: just imagine how this has affected so many young black

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Speaker 1: girls who never may have thought that this was possible

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Speaker 1: for them.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely absolutely. I was one of those little girls, you know,

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Speaker 3: being the first. I had to grow up never seeing

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Speaker 3: a black woman on the Missie against Supreme Court, and

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Speaker 3: now I get to be that and hopefully be an

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Speaker 3: inspiration for so many people coming after me.

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Speaker 2: And you had a big gretch also appoint you. Yes,

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Speaker 2: I saw that. Yes, that's right.

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Speaker 1: So I want to talk about your journey to how

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Speaker 1: you got to this position, right, what made you even

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Speaker 1: say I want to go to law school.

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Speaker 3: So a combination of things. When I was in college,

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Speaker 3: I was getting my psycho psychology degree, but I had

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Speaker 3: the great fortune of having my great grandmother with me

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Speaker 3: until I was a senior in college, and she told

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Speaker 3: me the story of my great grandfather, jess Lee Bond,

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Speaker 3: who was lynched in Tennessee in nineteen thirty nine after

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Speaker 3: asking a store owner for a receipt and he was

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Speaker 3: beaten and castrated and thrown into the local river, and

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Speaker 3: the corner deemed it an accidental drowning, and as a

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Speaker 3: result of that determination, his murderers walked free.

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Speaker 1: And this is in nineteen thirty nine. Just to again

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Speaker 1: reiterate that which is, by the way, not that.

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Speaker 3: Not that long ago. And for my great grandmother to

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Speaker 3: still be alive and to be able to share that

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Speaker 3: with me, it just put it in such a context

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Speaker 3: that government sanctioned and justice was the norm in our

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Speaker 3: country not too long ago. And it, you know, injustice

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Speaker 3: can rear its ugly head if we're not vigilant, and

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Speaker 3: so that and other things, I decided to pursue a

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Speaker 3: law career.

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Speaker 1: And talking to your great grandma, that did she talk

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Speaker 1: to you about how that affected her? Because imagine this

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Speaker 1: is her husband that this happened to. Yes, and so

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Speaker 1: then after that, now how does she manage to even

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Speaker 1: feel like she can continue on and be optimistic about

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Speaker 1: a country where something like this can happen?

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Speaker 3: So I will say that in my family, and again,

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Speaker 3: this was not told to me until I was an adult, right,

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Speaker 3: and so this was almost a shame. That was that

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Speaker 3: that was treated like a shame or just a trauma. Right.

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Speaker 3: And so by the time she told me, she was,

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Speaker 3: you know, in her nineties, and so it was kind

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Speaker 3: of just a part of her journey. She was just

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Speaker 3: sharing recipes and just telling me what people were doing

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Speaker 3: down the street. She will always look out her front window,

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Speaker 3: you know. I had that type of great grandmother. But

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Speaker 3: it was just very much in a storytelling mode of

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Speaker 3: I just want to share this before I pass, and

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Speaker 3: it was all the things she shared with me were

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Speaker 3: very powerful, but it was very noteworthy for me that

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Speaker 3: it wasn't shared with me throughout my life.

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Speaker 2: Right, oh, my goodness.

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Speaker 1: And we talk about DEI and we see how a

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Speaker 1: lot of that is being rolled back. And I always

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Speaker 1: tell people, you have to understand, it's not like unqualified

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Speaker 1: people getting positions. These are qualified people that may not

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Speaker 1: have had opportunities because of the color of this skin

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Speaker 1: or because of their sex. And so when you think

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Speaker 1: about diversity in the Michigan you know, Supreme courts, why

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Speaker 1: is that important for people who are listening that are like, oh,

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Speaker 1: you know, everybody equally follows the law and so that

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Speaker 1: shouldn't matter.

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Speaker 2: But for you, why is that perspective important? Well?

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Speaker 3: I believe the Michigan Supreme Court and as well as

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Speaker 3: our courts in general, should reflect the diversity of the

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Speaker 3: perspectives and experiences of the people that come before them.

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Speaker 3: There's a certain lived experience and perspective that I will

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Speaker 3: bring and that other people will bring as a result

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Speaker 3: of being the youngest, or me being a new mom,

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Speaker 3: or me being a black woman. There are certain perspectives

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Speaker 3: that I bring to the table that help inform how

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Speaker 3: we view the law and help us to make interpretations.

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Speaker 3: And there's seven of us on the Michigan Supreme Court.

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Speaker 3: There's a reason there's not just one Supreme Court justice.

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Speaker 3: We're meant to have these conversations and to disagree and

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Speaker 3: to have a really robust conversation. So I think diversity

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Speaker 3: is incredibly important to get the answer right. Not diversity

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Speaker 3: for the sake of diversity, but in order to truly

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Speaker 3: get to the right decision. I believe it's necessary.

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Speaker 1: And I just want to shed again and highlight three

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Speaker 1: things you just said. The youngest you were, what, thirty

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Speaker 1: four when I was Yeah, yeah, thirty four when you

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Speaker 1: first got into this position. Also a new mom, yes,

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Speaker 1: which is important because sometimes people think that women having

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Speaker 1: babies can't They don't ask men about that, but for

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Speaker 1: a woman when they're like, oh, she's gonna have a kid,

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Speaker 1: is she going to be able to do the things?

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Speaker 1: And sometimes people delay that because they don't feel like

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Speaker 1: they can compete. Absolutely, and so I love the fact

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Speaker 1: that you were a new mom at the time. Also,

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Speaker 1: and you know, the only black women. Yes, So that

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Speaker 1: is all first. Yes, how does it feel being in

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Speaker 1: that space, because that's you know, that is also pressure,

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Speaker 1: people are watching what's happening, but it's also just amazing.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what I have been able to build

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Speaker 3: a thick skin throughout my career. Got to got to

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Speaker 3: you know, I was a legislator before being on the

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Speaker 3: Michigan Supreme Court, and the Michigan politics and the legislature.

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Speaker 3: That's the lion's den of politics, right, So I've been

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Speaker 3: through that. I was a legislator, through the pandemic, I

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Speaker 3: was a civil litigator, and so I built up a

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Speaker 3: really thick skin. And I think, you know, for me,

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Speaker 3: it's just standing on my square of my knowledge, based

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Speaker 3: my abilities and my experiences and just saying, hey, I

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Speaker 3: can do this and raising my hand to do it.

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Speaker 1: All right now, I know there's a lot of things

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Speaker 1: we can't talk about today, but you know, because of

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Speaker 1: your position, I understand that. But I do want to

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Speaker 1: talk to you about something that was on the news

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Speaker 1: over the weekend. Hold On, let me pull up this

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Speaker 1: woman's name, and I just want to get because we

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Speaker 1: just talked about representation, but we also talked about how

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Speaker 1: you have to follow the law and how people's experiences

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Speaker 1: can also affect that.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 1: So, there was a judge in the suburbs of Detroit

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Speaker 1: and somebody was one of her co workers, was actually

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Speaker 1: recording her because she was saying a lot of things

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Speaker 1: that were racist and homophobic.

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Speaker 2: Did did you.

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Speaker 1: See this story as it was happening. No, okay, So

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna thill you in. So she's no longer handling cases.

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Speaker 1: A court official turned over recordings of her making anti

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Speaker 1: gay insults and referring to black people as lazy. Right,

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Speaker 1: Oakland County Probate Judge Kathleen Ryan was removed from her

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Speaker 1: docket for unspecified misconduct. Now they are talking about why

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Speaker 1: the court administrator blew the whistle on her and secretly

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Speaker 1: recorded their calls. He said, I just want to make

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Speaker 1: it right. I want to keep my job and do

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Speaker 1: it in peace. And he wants people to be able

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Speaker 1: to get a fair shake, to have their day in court,

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Speaker 1: to have an unbiased trier of fact. And so this

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Speaker 1: person and they vetted out the calls and everything to

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Speaker 1: authenticate that it was really that. She said, I'm not

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Speaker 1: systematically racist, I'm a new racist. She also referred to

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Speaker 1: black people in the United States as lazy, and then

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Speaker 1: she also used gay slurs. But it's important for us

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Speaker 1: to note that there's definitely people like this in this

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Speaker 1: country as we have seen and in the world. But

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Speaker 1: people like that should not be in a position where

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Speaker 1: they have, you know, part of your life and things

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Speaker 1: that are happening for you in the palm of their

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Speaker 1: hands to make those decisions.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, And what I will say about that, The first

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Speaker 3: thing is I try my best not to watch the

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Speaker 3: news because I don't want anything to im Yeah, I

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Speaker 3: had to really cut down on that. But the second

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Speaker 3: thing is what a lot of people may not know

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Speaker 3: is and I'm not sure if this is true for

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Speaker 3: other states, but the Michigan Supreme Court actually renders punishment

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Speaker 3: for our lower court judges. And so yeah, I know that,

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Speaker 3: yeah we do. And so but what I will just

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Speaker 3: say generally, in Michigan, our judges are elected and some

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Speaker 3: states they're appointed and things like that. But we have

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Speaker 3: the opportunity to vote for our judges. And that's why

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Speaker 3: I have been trying to sound the alarm to make

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Speaker 3: sure you know who you're voting for, because it is

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Speaker 3: so important to having justice rendered in your community, to

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Speaker 3: make sure that you believe and the quality of the

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Speaker 3: character and integrity of the people that are serving you.

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Speaker 3: And a lot of people may not be justice impacted,

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Speaker 3: but you know, if someone you know is justice impacted,

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Speaker 3: it makes a huge difference of whether your judge has

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Speaker 3: compassion and empathy for the people that they serve. This

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Speaker 3: is a service position.

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Speaker 1: Right absolutely, because I can't imagine that somebody who would

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Speaker 1: say those things are feel that way can be fair

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Speaker 1: when it comes to having to preside over anything.

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Speaker 3: And we have to be very vigilant to make sure

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Speaker 3: that we know who we're voting for for judge and

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Speaker 3: justices for sure.

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Speaker 1: So you can't watch the news, that means you don't

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Speaker 1: look at the Jasmine brand, Baller Alert, none of that.

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Speaker 2: You don't know what's going on. I like that for you.

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Speaker 3: I try to shield myself from a lot of things

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Speaker 3: and really focus on my cases. You know, from time

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Speaker 3: to time, I'll watch reality TV show.

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Speaker 2: Get Out of Here? You watch can you say so

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Speaker 2: Love Island or so I have?

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Speaker 3: I have watched Love Island, only watching Selling Sunset in

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Speaker 3: my free time. So yes, I do try to engage

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Speaker 3: in reality TV show Love and Marriage Detroit just came

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Speaker 3: back on, So I'm going to try to catch that

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Speaker 3: I haven't been able to. But yeah, yeah, I will

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Speaker 3: engage in those things.

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Speaker 2: Okay, that's not going to have you based at all.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I just enjoy just entertainment.

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Speaker 1: At times, you do have to separate work from personal

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Speaker 1: and because I'm sure that there's times when you leave work,

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Speaker 1: and how hard is it for you to to be

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Speaker 1: able to just relax, meditate.

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Speaker 2: And not think about work.

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Speaker 1: You know?

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Speaker 3: I have, over this last year and a half have

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Speaker 3: tried to adjust myself. And I used to think about

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Speaker 3: it as work life balance, but now I just think

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Speaker 3: about it as juggling, okay. And I know that I

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Speaker 3: have to be present in the moments that I'm in

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Speaker 3: and when one when I'm doing one thing something else,

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Speaker 3: another ball is dropping and I have to know that

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Speaker 3: and be okay with that. So when I'm at work,

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Speaker 3: I'm president at work. When I'm at home, I'm usually

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Speaker 3: you know, I'm mom. And so I'm trying to be

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Speaker 3: present in those moments.

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Speaker 1: When you when did you realize that you wanted to

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Speaker 1: pursue being a Michigan Supreme Court justice?

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Speaker 2: When did you realize that was your path?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? So my path was not that I'm just this

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Speaker 3: ambitious thirty something. You're old. My congresswoman, Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence

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Speaker 3: now retired, but shout out to her. She actually asked

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Speaker 3: me to run in June of twenty twenty one.

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Speaker 2: Oh, she okay, they summoned you like they need to.

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Speaker 3: They summoned me, and because I was her state representative,

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Speaker 3: she had seen the work. I'm very much do the

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Speaker 3: work behind the scenes. I even running for stay representative.

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Speaker 3: I was asked to do that, and I kind of

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Speaker 3: don't like saying that, but for women running for office,

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Speaker 3: usually we have to be asked and that's just the

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Speaker 3: reality of the situation. But anyway, she asked me, and

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Speaker 3: I said no. I said no multiple times. But then

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Speaker 3: but because I actually ended up getting pregnant and so

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Speaker 3: all of the things that you just talked about about the

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Speaker 3: societal expectations of you know, you can only do one

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Speaker 3: or the other. Those obviously those thoughts obviously creeped in.

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Speaker 3: But when my daughter was I was in my second

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Speaker 3: trimester and I just thought about what it would mean

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Speaker 3: for her and her Do I want her to continue

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Speaker 3: to grow up in a Michigan or in a nation,

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Speaker 3: in a world where there has never been a woman

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Speaker 3: on the Michigan a black woman on the Michigan Supreme Court,

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Speaker 3: or Am I going to try to be that representation

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Speaker 3: for her? And I chose to try.

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Speaker 1: Big Bolden, and I do want to say also, it

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Speaker 1: is a sacrifice, you know, to make, because, like you said,

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Speaker 1: you were asked to run for office, and people don't

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Speaker 1: understand how hard that is and how important it is, because,

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Speaker 1: as you said previously, representation matters. And we can be

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Speaker 1: really upset about laws that are happening and things like

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Speaker 1: bills that past or not passed, or things that we

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Speaker 1: feel like we need. But if we're not voting or

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Speaker 1: even encouraging people to run for office who we would

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Speaker 1: love to have represent us, then you're part of the

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Speaker 1: problem too. I always look at it as people can

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Speaker 1: complain all they went, but if you don't have somebody

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Speaker 1: that you're encouraging to run for office to represent you

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Speaker 1: and then getting on that campaign and standing behind them

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Speaker 1: or running yourself, if you feel like you can make

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Speaker 1: some change and you don't want to just talk and complain,

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Speaker 1: then you're part of the problem too.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, as someone that was previously a legislator

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Speaker 3: in Michigan and someone that's on the Michigan Supreme Court currently,

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Speaker 3: and these are usually elected positions, I was appointed, but

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Speaker 3: I did run for the seat in twenty twenty two

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Speaker 3: and lost, and then it was appointed. I have seen

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Speaker 3: the depth and breadth of what it's like to be

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Speaker 3: an elected official and the decisions that they're making, literally

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Speaker 3: determining who gets funds, who lives, who dies, in some cases,

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Speaker 3: who thrives. It really makes a difference in who represents you.

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Speaker 3: It really does, and I've seen that up front, and

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Speaker 3: so at least for the judiciary branch, which goals under

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Speaker 3: the radar so often. I have just been trying to

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Speaker 3: be more transparent and showing my journey on social media,

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Speaker 3: and because it's so important to know who you're voting

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Speaker 3: for and that those people have your best interests at

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Speaker 3: hurt is.

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Speaker 1: Your goal one day to perhaps be on the Supreme

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Speaker 1: Court the United States.

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Speaker 2: My goal is to get this election, thank you.

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Speaker 3: My goal is to be retained from my seat on

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Speaker 3: November fifth and continue to serving the people of Michigan.

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Speaker 3: But you know, I am in my thirties. I'm thirty

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Speaker 3: six now, and you know there are a lot of

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Speaker 3: things that I hope to do, but I need to

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Speaker 3: make sure that one thing that's really important to me

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Speaker 3: is lifting as you climb, And so I know I

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Speaker 3: need to be in my position, but I also know

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Speaker 3: that I need to make sure that the next generation

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Speaker 3: of justices are being brought up. So that's what I'm

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Speaker 3: focused on.

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Speaker 1: And can we talk about some of the issues that

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Speaker 1: you have been championing, just so people know what you

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Speaker 1: stand for, because I also think it's important for people

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Speaker 1: when we go into vote. Sometimes also you're like looking

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Speaker 1: at stuff, but you may not even recognize some of

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Speaker 1: the names or know what's going on. So it's really

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Speaker 1: important to do your research. But I love to hear

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Speaker 1: from people firsthand of things they've actually accomplished, because there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of misinformation out there.

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Speaker 3: Yes, well, I will take it back to my history. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: as a representative, so I was able to get five

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Speaker 3: bills passed into law in the Michigan Legislature while serving

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Speaker 3: in the minority. Most of those were criminal justice reforms.

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Speaker 3: So I was a part of the Medically Frail Bill

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Speaker 3: reform package, giving people parole for those that were deemed

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Speaker 3: medically frail. I was a part of the Amendment for

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Speaker 3: the Wrong Form Prisonment and Compensation Act, so giving more

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Speaker 3: people access to that fund if they're deemed to be

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Speaker 3: wrongfully convicted. And I was also a part of the

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Speaker 3: Address Confidentiality Act, which shields the addressed for survivors of

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Speaker 3: domestic violence in human trafficking so that their abusers can't

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Speaker 3: find them.

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Speaker 2: These feel like givens, like.

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Speaker 3: You would think you but as a Supreme Court justice,

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Speaker 3: I have been able to author eight majority opinions while

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Speaker 3: in my seat. Some of those have been related to

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Speaker 3: criminal issues, some of them have been related to election issues,

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Speaker 3: and so I really you know, all of this is public,

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Speaker 3: and I hate to get people more work, but at

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Speaker 3: least for me. You can go to the Michigan Supreme

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Speaker 3: Court website. You can see the issues that we've decided.

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Speaker 3: You can see who's been in the majority and who's

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Speaker 3: the scentic because.

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Speaker 2: We don't always a yeah, absolutely not.

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Speaker 3: But you know, I have had a long history in

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Speaker 3: this space of service, and I'm very proud of my record.

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Speaker 1: Okay, there's so many things that I know I can't

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Speaker 1: ask you, so I won't do that here, because you know,

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Speaker 1: you just ran down a lot of things. And I've

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Speaker 1: heard people talk about, you know, bills they've passed or

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Speaker 1: being on the right side of things that checks they've

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Speaker 1: signed for things that they didn't even want to pass.

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Speaker 1: So it's just good to hear firsthand, because since I

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Speaker 1: people just make things up too.

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Speaker 3: Oh, I know, I know.

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Speaker 2: What do you think is the hardest part of your job?

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Speaker 3: Honestly, the hardest part of my job currently, or I

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Speaker 3: would say the first thing is the juggling. The Michigan

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Speaker 3: Supreme Court is a statewide campaign. Michigan is a huge state,

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Speaker 3: and I'm trying to get to everybody that I.

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Speaker 2: Shud is and I think sometimes we forget that.

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Speaker 1: It's like because we think Michigan we're like, okay, Detroit,

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Speaker 1: but unicorn in Michigan.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think from one part of the state the

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Speaker 3: up all the way down to the bottom. You're talking

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Speaker 3: about in eight hour drive, right, So it's a huge

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Speaker 3: state and we're trying to get around to as many

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Speaker 3: people as possible. And I think we've been doing an

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Speaker 3: excellent job at that, but you know, it requires time

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Speaker 3: and I'll obviously making good decisions on the court and

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Speaker 3: then having a two year old at home, So the juggling,

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Speaker 3: But other than that, I will say uncovering and dismantling

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Speaker 3: the systemic barriers that caused me to be the first

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Speaker 3: black woman in the first place.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's crazy because people will act like saying oh,

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Speaker 1: it's so long ago. We all have an equal place

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Speaker 1: to start out now and pull you know, the pull

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Speaker 1: yourself up by your bootstafs.

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Speaker 2: So she did it, you can do it.

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Speaker 1: But you see firsthand how there have been a lot

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Speaker 1: of obstacles put into place, things that we feel like

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Speaker 1: should be given that.

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Speaker 3: Aren't absolutely Absolutely. I'll ask simple questions and people will say,

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Speaker 3: you know, well, that's just how we've always done it. Well,

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Speaker 3: somebody like me wasn't at the table when it was done,

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Speaker 3: So we need to reevaluate what we're doing going forward. Right.

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Speaker 1: I got to ask you, you know, you seem from

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Speaker 1: everything I know about your background and even how you

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Speaker 1: present today pretty fly.

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Speaker 2: How did your husband bag you? I want to know

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Speaker 2: how he locked that in.

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Speaker 3: So our story is we went to preschool, middle school,

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Speaker 3: high school together. We were not friends, we were not dating.

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Speaker 3: We went to the same college. We started dating.

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Speaker 2: In college following me.

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Speaker 3: I mean, his parents lived around the corner from my parents,

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Speaker 3: so we would drive home together from college all the time,

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Speaker 3: and we became very very good friends. And you know,

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Speaker 3: one day when he just kind of looked at me

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Speaker 3: and he said, like, maybe we should date. I'm like, okay, right.

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Speaker 3: I knew him very very well. Our families, you know,

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Speaker 3: were so close, and we grew up together. So we

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Speaker 3: started dating. And then he actually went on to University

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Speaker 3: Trade Mercy Dental school and I went to the University

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Speaker 3: Traite Mercy Law school. So all of our graduations are

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Speaker 3: in common. Our lives have just been ordered together, and

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Speaker 3: it just we've just been together ever since. And so

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Speaker 3: that is how he bagged me. He had to stay

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Speaker 3: in my life and be pervasive online dating site.

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Speaker 1: For you.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, we've been together for a fifteen years.

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Speaker 1: That's so interesting that you didn't look at y'all didn't

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Speaker 1: look at each other like that at first, or maybe

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Speaker 1: he was always looking at.

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Speaker 2: You like that.

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Speaker 3: He claims that he wasn't, but he was. Well.

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Speaker 1: Listen for people who are listening to this right because

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Speaker 1: they can vote for you in the upcoming election.

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Speaker 2: What is that?

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Speaker 3: November November fifth, the last day.

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Speaker 2: It's the last day.

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Speaker 3: But we can vote early, Yes, you can vote early

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Speaker 3: in Michigan. You can vote by absentee. There's so many

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Speaker 3: different ways that you can vote now. So is the

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Speaker 3: last day all? Right?

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Speaker 2: And what is most concerning and pressing to you right now?

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Speaker 1: What are some of the issues for you that you're like, look,

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Speaker 1: these are things that I want to make sure it

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Speaker 1: can happen while I'm in my position.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I want to make sure one that there are

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Speaker 3: there's a diversity in the Michigan Supreme Court and in

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Speaker 3: our judicial branch. As far as staffing is concern, that

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Speaker 3: is something that's very, very pressing because if you pull

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Speaker 3: from the same sources, you're going to get the same

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Speaker 3: the same people, and they really inform their judge or

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Speaker 3: justices on how to make rulings right, So it's important

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Speaker 3: to have your staff that's making that's doing the research

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Speaker 3: and helping to make good decisions. The other thing is

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Speaker 3: I'm working just really really hard and absorbing as much

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Speaker 3: knowledge as possible about the processes and procedures of the

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Speaker 3: court in order to make substantial changes to make it

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Speaker 3: easier for the next person coming after me. So that's

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Speaker 3: really really what I'm focused on. But other than that,

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Speaker 3: as far as cases coming up, it's no secret that

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Speaker 3: it's election time and so we have election cases those

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Speaker 3: are resolved at the Michigan Supreme Court if they have

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Speaker 3: to do with Michigan election law. But honestly, you know,

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Speaker 3: lesser known issues. We deal with everything. A lot of

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Speaker 3: people think we just do criminal or constitutional law. We

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Speaker 3: deal a termination of parental rights cases. Oh wow, we

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Speaker 3: deal with custody, we divorce issues.

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Speaker 2: That's everyday life, every.

441
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Speaker 3: Day life that we're made and we're the last word

442
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,520
Speaker 3: on it. And so a lot of people don't realize

443
00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,800
Speaker 3: how much we're affecting it are affecting them, but we do.

444
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:09,800
Speaker 3: Every single day.

445
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,440
Speaker 2: We need you there. I just trying to get my job.

446
00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,600
Speaker 1: Absolutely, does it get real heated when you guys are

447
00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:17,640
Speaker 1: coming together, like.

448
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:19,040
Speaker 2: How does that? How does that look?

449
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:23,679
Speaker 3: Usually it's very very cordial. We actually have lunch together.

450
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,720
Speaker 3: Never heard that at the at the Michigan Supreme Court table.

451
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,320
Speaker 3: We actually have lunch together once or twice a week.

452
00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:38,880
Speaker 3: So even though you know we may disagree on issues,

453
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,119
Speaker 3: we try not to be disagreeable. Now we have have

454
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 3: We have had some heated discussions. My tolerance for it

455
00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:49,000
Speaker 3: is very very high because I was in the legislature

456
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,399
Speaker 3: and there's nothing but disagreement. So I kind of just

457
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,720
Speaker 3: sit back and listen to everybody. But yeah, there have

458
00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:56,320
Speaker 3: been some heated discussions at times.

459
00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:58,760
Speaker 1: I can imagine the perspective that you bring, like you said,

460
00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,720
Speaker 1: just for you all the things that they didn't have,

461
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,600
Speaker 1: and so to have somebody come in there and say, okay,

462
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 1: well from my point of view and me being in

463
00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,000
Speaker 1: this position, this is why this is important. And some

464
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:10,840
Speaker 1: things that people may not have thought of before.

465
00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, my colleagues, even though they've been on the

466
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,760
Speaker 3: bench you know, a lot longer than me, in some cases,

467
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,240
Speaker 3: sometimes they still turn me and say, what was the

468
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:20,800
Speaker 3: legislature thinking Kiro.

469
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:22,000
Speaker 2: On this issue?

470
00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:24,720
Speaker 3: Because I know how the saucias just made so to

471
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,439
Speaker 3: speak as far as how you know, the legislature thinks,

472
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,080
Speaker 3: and so that's crucial to when we're interpreting law.

473
00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:35,040
Speaker 1: Well, Justice Bolden aka Big Bolden, we appreciate you so

474
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:36,200
Speaker 1: much for coming through today.

475
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,520
Speaker 2: I'm so glad we had a chance to have this conversation.

476
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,879
Speaker 1: I've read about you on Essence when they highlighted you

477
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,080
Speaker 1: as well, but just the work that you're doing. Thank

478
00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:47,080
Speaker 1: you so much, because, like I said, sometimes it could

479
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,720
Speaker 1: feel like a thankless job, but we appreciate you. Yeah,

480
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:53,280
Speaker 1: make sure remember you have to vote in Michigan. It's

481
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,040
Speaker 1: so important to do that. Last message for anybody who's

482
00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:58,040
Speaker 1: like I'm going to sit this out. What would you say?

483
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:02,600
Speaker 3: You know, I don't know what to say to that,

484
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,959
Speaker 3: because I just know so much. But don't give up

485
00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,320
Speaker 3: your power. Your vote is your power of who represents

486
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,199
Speaker 3: you and what your quality of life will look like

487
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:14,440
Speaker 3: wherever you are, So don't give up your power.

488
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,800
Speaker 1: Don't be stupid, right, don't be stupid? All right, Well,

489
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,359
Speaker 1: thank you so much. I appreciate it this way, Justice

490
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:21,760
Speaker 1: Bolden

491
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:25,080
Speaker 2: Well