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CLIFF TAYLOR'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER'S HUSBAND TAKES SHOT AT ATTORNEYBUTLER

On Saturday, September 27, I wrote a piece called MERIT SELECTION AND JUDICIAL ELECTION--CLIFF TAYLOR'S PATH TO THE MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT outlining Cliff Taylor's rise to the Supreme Court, and suggesting that he is not necessarily the poster child for the proposition that a system of judicial election like we have in Michigan is superior to a system of merit selection, varieties of which have been suggested in other states.  I stated that I was not an advocate of merit selection, but that discussion of the merits of the current system should take place.

This prompted a response today from Dan Pero of the American Courthouse blog, which is run as part of the American Justice Partnership.  In a piece called MULLING OVER MICHIGAN, he refers to and links to my article as evidence of occasional "fringe arguments" suggesting that the system of electing judges in Michigan does represent the voice of the people.  Pretty odd for a Pro-Life, Roman Catholic, fiscal conservative, family value, small government oriented, heterosexual guy who votes Republican more often than not to be called a fringe anything.

Mr. Pero (or the intern or staff that writes his stuff) acknowledges that the federal system provides for Presidential appointment of judges and no election.  But that is okay, as the President has to run for election.  (Of course, second term Presidents can't run for re-election, though I think they can still appoint judges.)  He acknowledges that in Michigan most judicial vacancies on the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court are filled by appointment by the Governor.  Again, that is okay because a Governor is elected, and are accountable to the people if he/she runs for re-election.  (Again, a term limited Governor in his/her final term can still appoint judges.)  Mr. Pero, at least for purposes of this article (and his staff might want to check his prior posts for consistency of position on this), is in favor of selection of judges other than by direct election, if whoever is doing the selection is at some point, somehow, in the past, if not in the future, is or has been elected. 

So, if the Governor appoints the merit selection board, are the selections of the board okay because the Governor is elected.  If the merit selection board is selected by the legislature or if the membership of the board is ratified by legislative act, are the selections of such a board okay because the legislature must stand for election.  Sounds like Dan would be on board with such arrangements, if you read his current post, but then you should probably not read some of his older stuff.  Or the articles or documents he links to.  I am not sure he does.

Dan Pero acknowledges that judicial incumbents have a better shot at re-election, but he says that is true of all incumbents Senators, Representatives, etc.  I don't think Dan has read his Michigan election rules, which state, that only judicial candidates carry the incumbent designation.  No other officeholder will carry that designation on the ballot, from President down to Drain Commissioner.  Good solid Republican Reps. like Thad McCotter and Joe Knollenberg will not benefit from the incumbent designation on the November 4 ballot.  But Cliff Taylor will.

And why is this, you might ask.

LEGACY OF CLIFF TAYLOR'S SUPREME COURT

Enterprising folks have put together summaries and case citations to many of the decisions of the Michigan Supreme Court which, under the leadership of Chief Justice Clifford Taylor, have proved so destructive to the rights of Michigan citizens. The table of contents is shown below in jpg. format.  The entire article can be found here:

Taylor Accountability 2008

This is important reading for those who wish to be informed voters on Nov. 4.

PAUL NEWMAN

Paul Newman, one of my favorite actors died yesterday, September 25, 2008, at age 83.

My favorite stuff was not any of the law related movies like The Verdict, though I am sure that the jury asking if they could award the plaintiff more than what they asked for is a fantasy of many lawyers.

The Sting is not only my favorite Newman movie, but probably my favorite movie of all time.  I always loved that Newman never seemed to take himself too seriously (a quality we should all have, but don't).  In one scene he and Robert Redford are in a train station, where Redford sees the ultimate mark, Robert Shaw, for the first time.  Redford says:  "He's not as tough as he thinks he is."  To which Newman responds:  "Neither are we."

Ain't none of us as tough as we think we are.

Cool Hand Luke is another great film.  Some lines from that movie offer some good advice to plaintiff lawyers in the current judicial environment.

While doing a stretch at the prison farm, Luke gets into a fight with a much bigger man, George Kennedy's character Dragline.  The fight becomes a boxing match in front of the rest of the prisoners.  Despite being pummeled, Luke keeps coming back for more, to the point that Dragline tells him to stay down.

Dragline: Stay down. You're beat.

Luke: You're gonna have to kill me... [struggles back to his feet]

Later, during a poker game, Luke bluffs his way to a pot with nothing in his hand.  Dragline, who sees this, says:

Dragline:  Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.

Luke: Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.

While the Supreme keeps knocking us down, and continues to deal all the Aces and face cards to the defense, the protectors of civil justice in Michigan will have to keep coming up off the floor.  Just like Cool Hand Luke.

Thanks, Mr. Newman.  I like your salad dressings too.

JUDGE DIANE HATHAWAY FOR MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT

As Cliff Taylor has received a lot of attention on this site, I thought it might be fair to indicate that there is another candidate for Supreme Court.

Judge Diane Hathaway of the Wayne County Circuit Court is running against Clifford Taylor for the Michigan Supreme Court on the non-partisan portion of the Nov. 4 ballot.  Though Mr. Taylor will be designated as an incumbent judge, Judge Hathaway, though an incumbent judge, will not have the benefit of that designation.

Diane Hathaway has been on the Wayne County Circuit Court bench since 1993, serving in both the civil and criminal divisions of the Court.  Prior to that, her experience includes working as an assistant Macomb County Prosecutor.

As this is a presidential election year, the ballot will be a long one.  Due to "voter fatigue" and/or unfamiliarity with judicial candidates, many people do not finish the ballot, and don't vote in the judicial elections.  Recognizing this, one of the Hathaway campaign slogans is:  Vote All the Way, Vote Hathaway."

Because the judicial elections are non-partisan, those voters who punch/select a straight party ticket will not have their vote register for the judicial races. 

Learn more about the Hathaway campaign here.

To get involved in the campaign, or to donate, click here.

To learn what we might expect from a Taylor victory in November, click here. (Humor alert. The views expressed by including this link are my own, and not the views of the Hathaway campaign, or anyone else, as far as I know.)

MERIT SELECTION AND JUDICIAL ELECTION--CLIFF TAYLOR'S PATH TO THE MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT

My good friend Dan Pero(husband of Colleen Pero, Justice Cliff Taylor's campaign manager), author of the American Courthouse blog, is President of the American Justice Partnership, an organization set up by the National Association of Manufacturers, former Michigan Governor John Engler President.  Mr. Pero also served as Mr. Engler's gubernatorial campaign manager.  Cliff Taylor's wife Lucille was Governor John Engler's chief legal adviser when Governor Engler appointed Cliff (a man without judicial experience of any kind) to the Michigan Court of Appeals in 1992 and again to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1998.

Mr. Pero, in his blog, has recently taken up the banner advocating the election of judges, and at the same time condemning any state's attempt to take politics out of the judicial selection process through systems of appointment by various state committees or boards.  Mr. Pero collectively calls such schemes "merit selection".  Any such system is simply wrong, says Mr. Pero, and fundamentally undemocratic.  Let the people decide, says he.

As usual, American Courthouse trivializes complex issues with simple-minded, if any analysis.

Of course, the argument against merit selection simply ignores the federal judicial system, where no judges are elected, ever.

But, setting that aside, let's look at the system here in Michigan, where judges are elected. While in the state of Michigan, the judicial ballot is non-partisan, political parties nominate candidates for judicial office, though party affiliation never appears on the ballot.  Incumbents, however, are so designated on the ballot.  Fortunately for Cliff Taylor, the intervention of his wife's employer has allowed him to benefit from the "incumbent" designation whenever he has run for election.  An electorate, who doesn't really know that much about what judges can do to their rights, seldom votes against an incumbent.

By the way, Clifford Taylor was appointed to both the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court because state law allows the sitting Governor to fill judicial vacancies that occur between elections. It is my personal belief that Mr. Pero advocates the current system in Michigan as it appears to be a democratic system, allowing the voters to make the choice.  However, the reality of the system is that most Appeals Court and Supreme Court judges achieve their position initially due to the patronage of a governor who appoints fellow party members to vacancies.  More often than not, such appointees, like Cliff Taylor, have no previous trial court experience.

Now this system does apply equally to Democrat as well as Republican governors.  Again, though it is my personal belief that Mr. Pero is all right with that.  I suspect he believes, all other things being equal, that the more well funded gubernatorial campaign will stand a better chance of being successful that the campaign with less money to spend.  And as the Republican party, backed by corporate, insurance company and Chamber of Commerce money, traditionally outspends the Democrats, Mr. Pero believes his party, the Rebpublican has a better than average chance of electing governors who will fill jucidicial vacancies with Republicans.

I can see both sides of the judicial election vs. merit selection debate, and I think there should be continued discussion of the way we select judges.  However, here's a tip for Mr. Pero.  In your defense of the system of judicial election, I wouldn't hold up the Michigan system or Cliff Taylor's ascension to the Supreme Court as an example vox populi.  If not for the patronage of your boss, then Governor Engler, I suspect that Justice Taylor would still be Mr. Taylor, toiling away in his Lansing law office, and hoping, I would bet that an activist Supreme Court's decisions wouldn't have an adverse effect on his firm's hourly billings. 

 

FAR REACHING EFFECTS OF AIG BAILOUT

With as memorable a week as last week was in US economic history,some may tend to forget that it began with the 85 Billion dollar bailout of AIG.  This blog recently carried a piece called: AIG DENIES IRAQ VETERAN'S LIFE INSURANCE CLAIM relating how the insurance giant denied the life insurance policy claim of the family of a Iraq veteran based on the alleged non-disclosure of an auto accident occurring in the vet's teenage years (despite his passing an army and an insurance company physical).

While AIG did not see fit to provide the vet's family the protection for which it had paid the required premium, the insurance company found a much more sympathetic audience  in its own time of trouble.  The United States came to the aid of AIG.  No premium payments required.

Former AIG CEO, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, once made the following statement in a presentation to the Boston College Chief Executive's Club, in 2004: "I call the plaintiff's bar terrorists." (Nice light touch, that.)

Mr. Greenberg was not at the helm of AIG at the time of last week's bailout.  He had left AIG in 2005 amid a New York state fraud investigation.  However, despite the terrorist activities of the trial bar, AIG's core insurance business remained profitable at the time of the bailout.

In recent years, AIG had expanded its business, becoming, among other things, the world's largest lessor of planes.  In 2006, it paid 100 Million dollars to Manchester United for the right to put its company logo on it's soccer jerseys for four years.

In addition, AIG started selling credit-default swaps, instruments that allowed investors to insure securities backed by the same bad mortgages responsible for the ongoing financial crisis.  (For further information, please see the bailouts that came later in the week of Sept. 14.)

HOW TO MAKE A POLITICAL ATTACK AD

Unlike Mr. Dan Pero and his paid staff at the blog American Courthouse (should probably more accurately and more euphoniously be called "Cliff's Courthouse", as Dan's wife is Justice Clifford Taylor's campaign manager, and so goings on in Michigan get more than their pro-rata share of coverage), real business in the form of two jury trials since August 25 has prevented me from updating this site.  Sorry for the run on sentence.  Of course, Mr. Pero would probably love to help me out by making sure no cases ever get before a jury.  It is much easier to control that line item on the corporate balance sheet if no one can ever successfully bring a claim for damages caused by corporate negligence.  And that is the ultimate goal of tort reformers. Others in the company try to reduce costs by taking production and jobs offshore.  Tort reformers try to reduce the human costs to corporations.  It's all, and nothing more, than maximizing profits.  Nothing wrong with profits, but its the means to that end I sometimes have a problem with.  (Apologies to my mother for ending a sentence with a preposition.)

On another note, the serious campaigning season is now upon us, with its attendant horrors.  I wrote an article called:  "Ad Nauseam" after the 2006 election.  The article was published in a couple of newspapers.  YouTube now offers a video guide on building a political attack ad, which may prove valuable to novice pols: