May 4, 2013 at 12:44 pm
Former justice alleges Michigan Supreme Court misconduct in forthcoming book
Weaver )
Lansing - Details of the infamous feud between
Republican-nominated Michigan Supreme Court justices and flamboyant Democratic
attorney Geoffrey Fieger is one of many allegations of judicial misconduct in a
book by former Justice Elizabeth Weaver due out later this month.
In the wide-ranging, 750-page account of
the high court's inner workings, Weaver accuses former Chief Justice Clifford
Taylor of offering to change his ruling on a Fieger matter if she would withdraw
a public dissent accusing Taylor and three other justices of being biased and
prejudiced toward Fieger.
Fieger asked the court in August 2006 to
halt its reprimand against him for disparaging three appeals court judges in a
malpractice lawsuit against Beaumont Hospital.
According to Weaver's book, Taylor, in a
memo to fellow justices, offered to change his vote against granting Fieger a
stay if Weaver would withdraw a dissenting opinion that the so-called "Engler
Four" — Taylor and justices Stephen Markman, Robert Young Jr. and Maura Corrigan
— had a bias against Fieger, a political enemy who spent hundreds of thousands
of dollars trying to defeat them at the ballot box.
"These were deals, and I wouldn't make the
deals," Weaver writes in the forthcoming book. "The majority of four simply were
not liking that I wouldn't be bullied. I was going to stand up, even alone."
Weaver and co-author David Schock claim in
"Judicial Deceit: Tyranny and Unnecessary Secrecy at the Michigan Supreme
Court," there were countless instances of unethical behavior among justices
during her 16-year career on the high court.
"You can't be bargaining like the
Legislature, horse-trading on a case," Weaver said in an interview with The
Detroit News.
Weaver, a former Republican nominee to the
technically nonpartisan bench, and Schock contend the state Supreme Court is
corrupted by ideology and secrecy and special interest groups that bankroll the
campaigns of Michigan's statewide partisan election of justices. She argued
campaign donations from Democratic and Republican party interests compromise
judicial neutrality.
"It is very much like the 'Wizard of Oz'
where Dorothy and Toto pulled back the curtain and found out the Wizard was
deceiving everybody," Weaver said in describing her book.
Markman and Young, who remain on the high
court, declined to comment on Weaver's book, which goes to press May 15 and will
be on sale soon after.
"The justices will not be commenting; the
court has moved on," Supreme Court spokeswoman Marcia McBrien said Friday in an
email. "Perhaps in time Ms. Weaver will be able to move on as well."
Corrigan is now director of the Michigan
Department of Human Services.
"She has no comment at all on that topic,"
DHS spokesman Dave Akerly said.
Taylor, who lost re-election in 2008, did
not return a phone call Friday seeking comment.
In the book, Weaver proposes a seven-point
plan for fixing the Supreme Court, starting with the elimination of political
party nominations for justices and better disclosure of campaign
contributions.
"Reform the money," said Weaver, 72, of
Glen Arbor. "Instant, complete reporting of all money. No hiding behind groups
of Justice for People or People for Justice. Every contribution has to be
individual, and it cannot be People for Justice, which is a whole bunch of
unknown people. It's dark money."
Weaver's tenure on the court from 1994 to
2010 was stormy at times. She advocated for more transparency on the court and
clashed with her colleagues. Her fellow justices rebuked Weaver for secretly
recording a 2006 internal discussion in which she participated by telephone. She
also released a transcript in which a fellow justice, Young — now the court's
chief judge — purportedly used a racial slur. Young is
African-American.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130504/POLITICS02/305040346#ixzz2TAgoX74n
