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“Cynical Maneuvering”… A “Disdainful Ploy”

August 30, 2010

An on-target Detroit News editorial today sums up the disgraceful way Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Weaver concluded her disgraceful career on the bench – by handing her seat over to soon-to-be-former Governor Granholm and shifting control of the court to liberal activists.  Fortunately, the voters of Michigan will have a chance to make their voices heard in November.

Posted by Dan Pero | Filed Under Michigan | Leave a Comment 

Judicial Coup D’etat on Michigan Supreme Court; Weaver the Deceiver Plays “Politics at its Worst”

August 27, 2010

Democrats have seized control of the Michigan Supreme Court as a result of a politically-rigged, backroom deal hatched months ago by Governor Jennifer Granholm and former Justice Betty Weaver. 

In a surprise move, Weaver has stepped down from the bench, allowing Granholm a clear path to appoint hand-picked, trial-lawyer-friendly judge, Alton Davis.  Granholm’s appointment goes into effect immediately and does not require approval by the state legislature. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not shedding a single tear in saying adios to Weaver. She has been an embarrassment to the bench for years.  Detroit Free Press columnist, Brian Dickerson, famously summed up Weaver’s judicial acumen this way in a 2007 column:

“If you ran into Betty Weaver on a street corner and didn’t know she was a Michigan Supreme Court Justice, you might mistake her for a bag lady….Weaver can, in her most distracted moments, leave casual observers with the impression that she has temporarily lost her moorings in time and space.”

A well-known perk-grubber, she fought tooth-and nail to cling to a taxpayer funded car and a $60,000/year personal office.  To top it all off, some of her fellow justices filed a complaint against her with the Judicial Tenure Commission earlier this year.

But this latest sleazeball move is an historic low, even for the likes of Weaver.

In an interview with the Detroit News, Weaver described a deal that makes the old Tammany Hall crowd look like a bunch of amateurs.  She took credit for orchestrating the deal over the past several months:

“…first asking Davis whether he would be willing to replace her, then telling Granholm she would resign if Davis of Grayling [MI] was named to her seat.  Weaver said Granholm first got in touch with Davis around June.”

Saul Anuzis of the Republican National Committee calls the whole affair “politics at its worst.” Josh Venable of the Michigan Republican Party has rightly called for an investigation into the inside dealings to see if any horse-trading or promises were made to make the deal go through.

As for Alton Davis?  Hard to imagine the man can look himself in the mirror.  Even harder to believe he can ever have any credibility as an unbiased Justice considering his role in this shoddy, shady exercise. 

The most shameful result of this entire charade is that Gov. Granholm has completely excluded ordinary voters from choosing Weaver’s successor.  While Davis will have to face the voters in November, he now does so as an “incumbent,” with all of the advantages incumbency provides.  If Davis has any respect for the court – and for the people of Michigan – he should step down and let the voters select the next Michigan Supreme Court Justice.

Posted by Dan Pero | Filed Under Judicial Elections, Michigan | Leave a Comment 

Will Michigan Justices Side With Taxpayers?

January 27, 2009

Last fall, Michigan’s Supreme Court voted to close several “convenience” offices used by justices who lived outside the Lansing area.  It was a responsible step toward fiscal sanity and a welcome show of solidarity with Michigan’s long-suffering taxpayers.

After all, taxpayers had just recently sprung for the new $126 million Hall of Justice – an investment of taxpayer resources that ought to be enough to house seven justices in relative luxury.  Plus, the state faces a combined budget deficit of $920 million, according to the most recent figures from Governor Granholm’s office, and closing second offices could save an estimated $500,000 per year.

But Michigan taxpayers shouldn’t count their savings just yet.

The vote was decided by only a 4-3 margin. But Chief Justice Clifford Taylor, who shepherded the measure through the Court, was defeated in his race for re-election, leaving Justice Robert Young to carry on the fight.  Taylor’s replacement, Diane Hathaway, has been mum on how she would vote if the motion comes up for a re-vote.  Her official stance when asked if she was willing to give up her Detroit “convenience” office:  “No comment.”

Leading the charge against fiscal responsibility is Justice Betty Weaver, who is clinging to her $60,000+ per year digs in Traverse City just as ferociously as she tried to keep her taxpayer-funded car last year.

Message for Justice Weaver and Justice Hathaway:  This is not a hard call.

Last year alone, 81,000 Michigan residents lost their jobs and the University of Michigan estimates another 132,000 workers will join the ranks of the unemployed over the next two years.  Thousands of these and others in our state have lost their homes to foreclosure.  Is it really asking so much of our high court judges to give up this perk of office at a time when so many in our state are suffering?

I knew justice was blind, but does it have to be dumb too?

Posted by Dan Pero | Filed Under Michigan | Leave a Comment 

Weaver The Deceiver

December 24, 2008

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Betty Weaver’s judicial antics and her lack of regard for the hard-pressed taxpayers of Michigan are beginning to be noticed by her employers – namely Michigan voters.   

In a letter to the Traverse City Record-Eagle recently brought to my attention, where Weaver will soon be forced to relinquish her taxpayer subsidized second office, Doug Green takes Weaver to task for her reluctance to surrender her perks:

I was beginning to gain some respect for Justice Elizabeth Weaver’s thoughts about Michigan’s Supreme Court.  This respect was shattered after Weaver’s vote against shutting down her state-paid local office in Traverse City. 

Weaver is obviously more concerned about her physical comfort and convenience than her obligations to taxpayers in the state of Michigan….
 
Weaver challenged the amount of cost savings but obviously fails to recognize the control of government spending depends on avoiding thousands of small costs whether it be $400,000 or $1.
   
Weaver’s vote also begs the question as to the validity of her judicial decisions.  Weaver has also publicly challenged the behavior of certain fellow judges.  It appears that Weaver might be just another whiner when her views are not accepted.
   


My previous posts on Weaver’s perk-grubbing can be read here
.   

Posted by Dan Pero | Filed Under Michigan | Leave a Comment 

Standing Up For Michigan Taxpayers

November 19, 2008

My post from last week on the plan by Michigan’s Supreme Court to close several satellite offices – which both the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press say would save suffering Michigan taxpayers $400,000 per year – seems to have hit a nerve.  One reader all but called me a traitor to my party for criticizing Justice Betty Weaver’s vote to keep her $60,000+ per year digs in Traverse City.

Well, here at American Courthouse we call ‘em like we see ‘em – and Republican or not, Justice Betty Weaver has become an embarrassment to the court who is far more committed to protecting the perks and privileges of her office than helping long-suffering Michigan taxpayers or the court she serves.

For those readers unfamiliar with Justice Weaver’s antics, a little history may be in order. Ms. Weaver was first elected in 1994 and served as Chief Justice from 1998 to 1999 – until the court voted 6-1 to remove her. (She alone was steadfast in support of herself remaining Chief.) It was during her tenure as Chief that the Michigan Supreme Court ranked the worst in America, according to a University of Chicago study, not during the tenure of Chief Justice Taylor, as was erroneously reported in the recent campaign.

In 2005, Justice Weaver announced her resignation:  “I intend to put my money where my mouth is, and step down in October 2005, after more than 10 years on the Supreme Court.”  She then rescinded her resignation and pledged to fight – believe it or not – for term limits.  Considering Justice Weaver has been hunkered down on the bench for 14 years, it’s hard to take seriously her claim that justices should be limited to one eight-year term.

Irony aside, Justice Weaver’s main goal in remaining on the court seems to be making the lives of her fellow justices miserable.  As Detroit Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson put it in one 2007 column:

If you ran into Betty Weaver on a street corner and didn’t know she was a Michigan Supreme Court Justice, you might mistake her for a bag lady….Weaver can, in her most distracted moments, leave casual observers with the impression that she has temporarily lost her moorings in time and space.  So it is tempting for her embarrassed colleagues on the state’s highest court to dismiss Weaver’s latest criticism of that august institution as the ravings of a lunatic.

Justice Weaver’s fight to keep her Traverse City office is reminiscent of her blowup last year when the rest of her colleagues on the court gave up their taxpayer-funded state cars without complaint.  If she really believes Michigan Supreme Court Justices should only serve for 8 years she should lead by example and retire when her term is up in 2010 – if not sooner.

Posted by Dan Pero | Filed Under Michigan | Leave a Comment 

Michigan High Court Votes To Close Offices

November 14, 2008

The Detroit Free Press reports today that Michigan’s Supreme Court voted yesterday to close several satellite offices used by justices – saving hard-hit Michigan taxpayers an estimated $400,000 per year.  You’d think such a modest cost-cutting measure would win unanimous support given Michigan’s severe budget crisis – especially considering that Michigan taxpayers footed the bill for the plush, new $88 million Hall of Justice that houses the Court in Lansing.

But you’d be wrong.

At a time when many Michigan residents are losing their homes, three Justices – including Betty Weaver – voted to keep their second offices.  Justice Weaver has a history of fighting to keep her perks and privileges; she even whined about giving up her taxpayer-funded state car.

Any savings that might trickle down to the taxpayers might be short-lived, however.  The 4-3 decision may well be reversed early next year when Diane Hathaway takes the seat of Clifford Taylor after defeating him in the recent election.  Justice Weaver likes to pose as the great defender of the “little guy” – except, it seems, when it comes to lightening the load on his/her wallet.  She runs on the campaign slogan:  “Weaver.  We Need Her.”  As far as Michigan taxpayers are concerned, it ought to be:  Weaver.  Who Needs Her.

Posted by Dan Pero | Filed Under Michigan | 4 Comments 

Lies, Damn Lies, and Michigan’s Supreme Court Election

October 7, 2008

Once again, the blogosphere has caught the mainstream media asleep at the switch.  RightMichigan.com does a devastating dissection of the lies being peddled by opponents of Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Cliff Taylor.  A left wing group has taken out billboard ads on the side of busses across the state claiming that a University of Chicago study ranks Chief Justice Taylor’s court as the worst in the nation.

The charge is outrageously false – even by today’s rock bottom campaign standards.  But even more outrageous: Michigan’s media, which fancies itself a vigilant truth squad against campaign falsehoods, has yet to call them on it.

As RightMichigan points out, the reference to the Michigan concerned the 1998-2000 Supreme Court.  That court was controlled by Democrat Conrad Mallet and liberal Betty Weaver.  It was a Democrat court, NOT a Taylor court.  The four justices that now make up the Republican majority on today’s court (Justices Taylor, Markman, Young and Corrigan) were not even on the court for 60% of the time the study covered.

Oh, and the “study” is unfinished and has never been “published” by the University of Chicago.  It’s just a working draft.

In a shameful act, the League of Women Voters plans to promote these lies at an upcoming forum featuring Michigan Democratic Party hacks and other groups that don’t care how low they have to stoop to defeat Chief Justice Taylor.  Guess who’s footing the bill?  None other than the Open Society Institute – the political arm of hedge fund billionaire George Soros.

As readers of American Courthouse well know, Mr. Soros is financing a multi-million dollar campaign in states across America to try to abolish democratic judicial elections.  The network of groups sponsored by the Open Society Institute always pose as non-partisan, good government organizations, aided of course by a gullible (or collusive) media.  By joining in the gutter campaign to defeat Chief Justice Taylor, these groups have demonstrated once and for all that they have no problems with partisan courts – as long as they’re controlled by partisans who support their political agenda.

Posted by Dan Pero | Filed Under Judicial Elections, Michigan, State Battlegrounds | 2 Comments