JUDGE BRIAN MACKENZIE has served as a judge of the 52nd District Court in Novi, Michigan, since 1988. Judge MacKenzie is the president of the Michigan Association of Drug Court Professionals and is the president-elect of the American Judges Association. From 2008 to 2010 Judge MacKenzie was the American Bar Association/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Judicial Fellow. He has written and lectured throughout the country on such issues as veterans treatment courts, domestic violence, drug treatment courts, and court media relations. He is the co-editor of Michigan Criminal Procedure. His most recent article is “Extrajudicial Speech: Judicial Ethics in the New Media Age,” published by the Reynolds Courts and Media Law Journal. In 2001 he was honored by the Foundation for the Improvement of Justice with the Paul H. Chapman Medal for significant contributions to the American criminal justice system. Judge MacKenzie received his Juris Doctorate from Wayne State University Law School in 1974. In November 1974, he was admitted to practice and joined the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office as an assistant prosecuting attorney. In 1979 he joined to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office as an assistant attorney general, where he remained until he was appointed to 52nd District Court, 1st Division, in March 1988.
