Tag: ethics (page 2)

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (WJBK) - Remember we told you about Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway and her property shell game?  It involved four houses, her stepchildren, a mortgage on a Grosse Pointe house she didn't want to pay anymore and now a federal grand jury.

She's not the only Judge Hathaway who's got problems keeping her houses straight because now we've come to find that her daughter, Dana Hathaway, who was just elected to the Third Circuit Court, has her own issues with shuffling property and shorting the tax man.

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LANSING, Mich. - Secretary of State Ruth Johnson reminds residents that all SUPER!Centers as well as select PLUS and traditional offices will remain open on Election Day for customers who must conduct urgent business on that day.

Most state government offices will be closed on Tuesday, Nov. 6, because of a 2004 agreement with labor unions made by the administration of then Gov. Jennifer Granholm that makes Election Day a state employee holiday. However, Johnson is keeping several offices open with minimal staffing.

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These overcompensated slugs need a whole paid day off to vote Democrat?  WTF?

Ya, the overzealous goober is a bit much, but either we are Rule of Law, or to hell with it all.

The Judicial Tenure Commission has issued a public censure of Third Circuit Court Judge Wade H. McCree on Wednesday in response to the judge emailing a semi-nude photo of himself to a number of people in June 2010.

Among those who received the self-shot photo on her cell phone was a married female Wayne County Sheriff's Department deputy who worked as a bailiff in Wade's courtroom.
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According to its website, the Judicial Tenure Commission serves to promote the integrity of the judicial process and preserve public confidence in the courts.

Entire story here

Speaking of exposed boobs...

Michigan Supreme Court justices Thursday afternoon are dissecting legal challenges mounted to stop four proposed constitutional amendments from getting on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.

At issue is whether proposals seeking eight new casinos, strengthening collective bargaining rights and placing restrictions on raising taxes and building new international bridges and tunnels make undisclosed changes to the state constitution.

The hearing is a latest development in a high-stakes election-year battle to place as many as six constitutional amendments on the ballot.
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[Solicitor General John] Bursch was arguing against the collective bargaining, casino expansion and bridge amendments on behalf of Gov. Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette.

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via The Detroit News

Commentary: Hathaway land deal merits investigation

Maybe it's too cut and dried. Or perhaps it isn't very sexy. For whatever reason, it appears there is no confirmed, official, criminal investigation into whether Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway committed fraud by hiding assets in order to get a short sale on a home she owned.

It supposedly went something like this: Hathaway, elected to the state's highest court in 2008, owned several homes, including one in Florida that WXYZ-TV Channel 7 described as a mini-mansion that sits on a golf course.

Hathaway bought the home in question, at 15834 Lakeview in Grosse Pointe, on Sept. 21, 2001, for $1.475 million. On Oct. 10, 2010, she listed the home for sale for $1.2 million. On May 2, 2011, she listed the home subject to a short sale, and on Nov. 8, 2011, the home was approved for a short sale for $840,000.

Presumably, the short sale saved Hathaway from a few hundred thousand in mortgage payments. A short sale is a sale in which lender(s) will accept less than the amount owed on the home in order to sell it. Normally, short sales occur because something dreadful happened, e.g., debilitating illness, job loss, etc., and the debtor cannot make his or her payments, and everyone wants to avoid foreclosure.

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