About The Candidate

Meet Tracy Green 

Tracy E. Green is an experienced attorney who has been practicing law for over 21 years.  Her practice has been primarily in Wayne County’s Third Circuit Court where she now seeks election to a judicial seat.  During her career, Tracy has protected the rights of indigent defendants in felony cases, advocated for the best interests of children in custody cases, and zealously fought to preserve families in child welfare cases — all of which are matters under the jurisdiction of the Third Circuit Court.   

Although highly experienced in other areas of Third Circuit Court practice, Tracy has emerged as a leader in Child Welfare.  During its seven-year run (2009-2016), she was the legal director for Detroit Center for Family Advocacy (CFA), a University of Michigan Law School legal services program. There, she led the multidisciplinary program whose mission was to reduce the number of children who were unnecessarily mired in the Wayne County foster care system.  CFA became a national model for innovation in child welfare services delivery to families, and its work was so successful that it has been replicated in several states.  In 2010, in recognition of her work, the Michigan Supreme Court’s Foster Care Review Board honored Tracy as its first annual Parents’ Attorney of the Year award recipient.  

Tracy is also a twice-published author in the Michigan child welfare arena. She wrote “Navigating Murky Waters:  Handling Unadjudicated Parent Cases Post-Sanders,” which was featured in the Summer 2014 edition of Referee’s Quarterly, the Referee’s Association of Michigan’s official publication. This article was widely regarded in Michigan as the seminal authority for implementation of the Michigan Supreme Court’s landmark In re Sanders child welfare decision that declared Michigan’s “One Parent Doctrine” unconstitutional.  Another of Tracy’s article’s, “Parents Representation in Child Welfare: A Child Advocate’s Journey,” was featured in the Fall 2009 issue of The Michigan Child Welfare Law Journal, Michigan’s premier child welfare publication. 

 Additionally, Tracy is a national trainer of attorneys and other child welfare professionals.  She generously gives of her time as consultant and mentor to other attorneys in complex child welfare matters, and she is a frequent contributor to the state’s family preservation and Children’s Law Section listservs. Tracy also provides pro bono representation where she believes her involvement can make the difference in a just outcome for families.  Based upon her activity in Michigan child welfare, the Michigan State Court Administrator’s Office recently selected Tracy as one of only 50 attorneys in Michigan to sponsor for study for certification as a national child welfare specialist. 

A judge should not only be learned and experience in the law, but also possess the wisdom and knowledge that come only from life experience.  Tracy has such wisdom and knowledge.  She is a lifelong Wayne County resident — born, raised and still living in Detroit, so she understands the challenges that confront Wayne County citizens.  Additionally, she is the only Detroiter in her race, seeking a judicial seat in a court that has a majority percentage of Detroiters as litigants in two of its three divisions — family and criminal.  Tracy is the youngest child of two UAW retirees who are now in their 90s and still living in her childhood Detroit home. Tracy’s parents taught her the values of servant leadership, hard work, and integrity — values she will uphold as a judge.  Tracy is a proud graduate of Cass Technical High School, and she received both her Bachelor of Social Work and Juris Doctorate degrees from Wayne State University.  She and her husband, Andre, have raised five children and have five grandchildren. They are also long-time, active members of Greater Christ Baptist Church in Detroit (Rev. Dr. James C. Perkins, pastor), where Andre serves as a deacon and Tracy serves in the choir.  

Tracy’s judicial philosophy is simple:  fairness, dignity, and respect.  It is predicated upon our common notions of decency.  Tracy has great reverence for the rule of law, believing that properly applied the law will yield a fair and just outcome. She believes, however, that fairness and justice are inextricably tied to respect for human dignity.  A judge must always see people as people and not simply as another case coming through the system.  Thus, it is the responsibility of the judge, as a public servant, to ensure that every person who comes before the court leaves with his or her dignity intact. Tracy believes that when people have been treated respectfully, they will accept the judge’s ruling in a case, even when they disagree with the result. She believes that respect for the judiciary and its orders is especially critical today —when so many people are disillusioned with the governmental institutions that were created to serve us as citizens.   

 Tracy’s life motto is “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”