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Arthur Carpenter (4/11/23 - 7/28/84) was a long-time Ann Arbor attorney and champion of liberal causes. Two of his three most significant cases went to the Michigan Supreme Court. The first case that was tried at the Supreme Court in 1954 involved the methodology for property tax assessments. Mr. Carpenter helped win a Michigan Supreme Court Decision ordering mandatory use of state equalized valuation in assessing property taxes. In 1954 alone, that decision netted Michigan school districts an additional $25 million in revenues. In 1970, Mr. Carpenter won a Michigan Supreme court ruling that schools, not parents, must provide all textbooks and supplies. This suit, Lillian Bond vs. Ann Arbor School District, was put forth on behalf of Mr. Carpenter's cleaning lady, Lillian Bond as well as University of Michigan economics professor Daniel Fusfeld,both of whom had school-aged children. His third seminal case allowed students attending the University of Michigan to vote in local elections.

Early Life Arthur Carpenter was born in Detroit in 1923 and grew up in Ann Arbor. He graduated from Ann Arbor High in 1939[5] and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 1943[5]. Following his service in the Navy in World War II as a postmaster in naval supplies, he went on to receive his law degree from Columbia in 1948, and began practicing law in San Francisco. He was engaged in private practice from 1948 - 1950, and then was on the president's staff of the Chrysler Motor Corp in 1950-51 and executive assistant to the chairman of the Wage Stabilization Board in Detroit in 1951-1952. . He relocated to Ann Arbor in 1951 and focused his attention on local politics, which led to his first case to be tried in the Michigan Supreme Court. On behalf of the Pittsfield #9 school board, Carpenter filed a direct appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court [5] asking that their district be allowed to use the state equalized valuation rather than local tax assessments, which were being done at the discretion of local valuators. The Supreme Court ruled in their favor, which fundamentally changed the methodology for assessing property tax in the state of Michigan. Mr. Carpenter provided those legal services to the school board without compensation.

In 1954 Carpenter ran for county circuit court commissioner. From 1963-1964, Carpenter served as a special aid to the then U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Wilbur J. Cohen, drafting education and civil rights legislation.

Free Textbook Case The Michigan Supreme Court reversed the decision of Washtenaw Circuit Court Judge William F. Ager Jr. and the State Court of Appeals and ruled that public schools in Michigan must provide free textbooks and supplies for all students. The Supreme Court agreed with the plaintiffs Mrs. Lillian Bond and University Professor Daniel Fusfeld that a system of 'free public elementary and secondary schools' as defined by the 1963 Michigan Constitution means free textbooks and free supplies. Carpenter got the idea for filing the suit after talking with Mrs. Bond, his housekeeper at the time and mother of 4 children in the school district. Mrs. Bond was speaking to Carpenter and his wife one day and said that she couldn't afford to buy supplies and textbooks for the children and pay the school fees.

Carpenter was honored posthumously as the Washtenaw Trial Lawyers Association Lawyer of the Year for his legal and civic contributions to the community and to the state of Michigan.

3. Bond v. Ann Arbor School District, Docket No. 5,586. 18 Mich. App 506 (1969), 171 N.W. 2d 557, Michigan Court of Appeals, Decided July 31, 1969. 4. "Champion of lost causes posthumously named Lawyer of the Year", The Ann Arbor News, Wednesday January 30, 1985, pg. A10 5. "Landmark Rulings 'Old Hat' for Art", Stucker, Jan; Ann Arbor News, May 1970 6. "Lawyer to Run for Court Post - A.E. Carpenter Seeks Commission Office"; Ann Arbor News 1956