Who’s Really Afraid of Public Opinion?
August 25, 2008
A story in the Lansing State Journal leads off with the usual gnashing of teeth about the rise in campaign spending for state judicial races. After attacking me, a flak for the Michigan trial lawyers association claims that rule-of-law judges can’t win through public opinion, so business groups need to buy their seats.
Funny, but wasn’t it just Michigan Democrats – and their union and trial lawyer cronies – who hatched a scheme to seize control of the state’s courts through a phony constitutional amendment because they knew they couldn’t defeat rule-of-law judges through the ballot box? And wasn’t that scheme – which the Detroit News labeled a sleazy “power grab” – just declared unconstitutional? Or am I mistaken?
Posted by Dan Pero in the categories: Judicial Elections, Michigan
One Response to “Who’s Really Afraid of Public Opinion?”
Amazing how much slip-shod journalism you can stuff into two paragraphs, young Dan.
Maybe you can do your readers a service and cite them to some document, statement, etc, that shows that the trial lawyer’s organization supported the Reform Michigan Government Now proposal.
The provisions of the “scheme” were not declared unconstitutional, but the manner in which the group attempted to pass measure was determined to be incorrect. The Court held that such reforms are the province of a constitutional convention.
As to lack of success at the ballot box, remember tort reformers Prop D and Prop C in the Nineties?
http://www.attorneybutler.net/2008/08/reform-michigan.html