Served from 2009 through 2013
Justice Diane Marie Hathaway was elected to the Michigan Supreme Court in 2008. She retired on January 21, 2013, and was subsequently sentenced to prison in May 2013 for mortgage fraud.
Before joining the Supreme Court, Justice Hathaway served as a judge of the Wayne County Circuit Court for 16 years; she was first elected to the circuit court in 1992 and re-elected in 1998 and 2004. As a circuit judge, she presided over civil, criminal, family, and appellate matters. She also served as a visiting judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals.
The daughter of a Detroit police officer, Justice Hathaway was born, raised, and educated in the city of Detroit. Upon graduating from high school, she earned a degree in Radiological Technology from Henry Ford Hospital; she also attained a real estate broker’s license. She worked both in real estate and x-ray technology while her husband attended and completed law school. While continuing to work and raise her family, Justice Hathaway then continued her education at Wayne State University and at Madonna College, where she graduated with honors with a B.S. in Allied Health. She earned her law degree from the Detroit College of Law, graduating in 1987. While in law school, she served as a research clerk for the Wayne County Circuit Court and Detroit Recorder’s Court, and also as an instructor in real estate law.
Justice Hathaway’s legal experience includes serving as an assistant prosecutor in Macomb County, where she was promoted to head that office’s Drug Forfeiture Division. She has been active in numerous professional organizations; past and present associations include the State Bar of Michigan, Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, Macomb County Bar Association, Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, Women Lawyers Association, Incorporated Society of Irish-American Lawyers and the Michigan Judges Association.