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.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-iNGbwslqrfkBe9yPpEIqSHlOITA2L0EDazfZHkYyv6gxYHgAE5WLzRCrJYCumZPcxq55vOyxIiNN1VwJcF64ph_yD3P0kys0DpzewQ8vEAoASThM6FLUHYVb9BMziJZYHDRfFi6OM2c/s200/Justice+Elizabeth+Weaver.jpg)
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.
Full Article and Source:
Former Justice Alleges Supreme Court Misconduct in Forthcoming Book
Full Article and Source:
Former Justice Alleges Supreme Court Misconduct in Forthcoming Book
2 comments:
Sounds like it should be an interesting book.
I agree. This is going to be a revealing book, I'm sure.
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