Buckle up folks, this could be a wild ride!

The thirteen page report details the illegal firing of Craig Petersen, a long-time magistrate and director of the state's workers compensation programs.  Mr. Petersen won a grievance against the state last summer but the case was immediately appealed by Granholm's Department of Labor and Economic Growth in an attempt to avoid a politically damaging decision from becoming binding in the middle of an election.

The report is full of fancy legal speak so I'll try to give you the Cliff Notes version.

Granholm appointed magistrates to fill vacancies, pending approval by the state Senate.

One appointee, lobbied heavily for by one of the governor's chief special interest backers, the trial lawyers, did not pass muster in the Senate and was refused a confirmation.  Their Constitutional prerogative.

An Engler appointee, Petersen was told, according to sworn testimony to the Civil Service Commission and undisputed by the Granholm administration that without the appointment of the trial lawyer's selection he would lose his job.  The report quotes Petersen's supervisor as telling him: "The governor's office, I had a long talk with them.  I can't talk them out of it.  Your job is going to be abolished...its got to be you... one for the other."

Petersen was fired without cause.

Petersen filed and won a grievance.  The Granholm administration filed an appeal and lost.  The conclusion of the CSC finds that his position was abolished "for reasons other than administrative efficiency, namely, in retaliation for the senate's rejection of a proposed gubernatorial appointment."

Thus ends the play-by-play.

What does all of that mean in English?  Jennifer Granholm attempted an end-run on the Constitution and had a man fired because the senate wouldn't confirm one of her trial lawyer buddies for a different position.

Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I take things like the constitution kinda seriously.  The governor takes an oath of office and swears on a Bible to uphold the constitution, not ignore it.

And this begs the question... if she did it with Petersen, has she done it with anyone else?  

This isn't the end of the story and it isn't going away.  If you've got a story to tell, shoot me an email at nick_deleeuw@yahoo.com.  The mainstream press might not think the chief executive being caught red-handed in cronyism and corruption is a big deal, but that's what RightMichigan.com is here for.  Stay tuned.

Click "Full Story" below to view the scanned report in its entirety.