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Supreme Court ads
I'm sick of the political ads, yes, but only because they are wasteful, tiresome and purposefully misleading. But they can be entertaining with their creative negativity.
What is distressing is the judicial campaigns. Oh my, it's like watching civilization flushed down the toilet.
Lately, it's the ones interviewing random people about what we all need, tough on crime. Apparently, there's one branch of government not affected by the economic downturn and is expecting an endless budget. CUT THEIR SALARIES, I say.
Next up are the ones that exploit a single victim of a crime. Guess what? It's not hard finding someone upset with the justice system. It makes me feel sorry for that prosecutor.
And then there's the biggest fraud: The one targeting Denise Langford Morris for being SOFT ON CRIME. Oh my, my. Guess what - lots of people get probation for crimes. But most disheartening is that they refer to Langford Morris letting "a rapper" go after a second gun possession incident. They twice or thrice refer to "a rapper," but this is rapper is Oakland County's own Eminem. Why not say it? Why hide? What's the problem? Call it what it is.
Again, it's just shameful that this is how the laws in our state are shaped, by judges who rely on such tactics to keep their high-paying jobs.
My assessment of Langford Morris after seeing her in action? She's made some tough choices. Toughest one was giving a prison sentence to a 16 year old who had killed her baby immediately after giving birth in a hospital bathroom. Did she not know she was pregnant? Did she panic? Did she intend to kill the baby?
The jury debated for days and finally convicted of second-degree murder. The judge shocked everyone with a small sentence, something like 2 years to 10 years with credit for time served on a tether on house arrest. Everyone complained. She shouldn't have gone to prison; she should have gotten a longer term. Someone called it an illegal sentence, due to the time served clause.
Thing is, I don't recall it being appealed because the appellate decision could have come down a number of ways. The girl served a couple years in prison, and then was paroled - but not at her first opportunity.
The judge made a decision that no one was happy with and everyone learned to live with it. Seems like a good judge to me. Also, she can take forever deciding something as she weighs the variety of issues. That sounds like Supreme Court material to me, too.
What is distressing is the judicial campaigns. Oh my, it's like watching civilization flushed down the toilet.
Lately, it's the ones interviewing random people about what we all need, tough on crime. Apparently, there's one branch of government not affected by the economic downturn and is expecting an endless budget. CUT THEIR SALARIES, I say.
Next up are the ones that exploit a single victim of a crime. Guess what? It's not hard finding someone upset with the justice system. It makes me feel sorry for that prosecutor.
And then there's the biggest fraud: The one targeting Denise Langford Morris for being SOFT ON CRIME. Oh my, my. Guess what - lots of people get probation for crimes. But most disheartening is that they refer to Langford Morris letting "a rapper" go after a second gun possession incident. They twice or thrice refer to "a rapper," but this is rapper is Oakland County's own Eminem. Why not say it? Why hide? What's the problem? Call it what it is.
Again, it's just shameful that this is how the laws in our state are shaped, by judges who rely on such tactics to keep their high-paying jobs.
My assessment of Langford Morris after seeing her in action? She's made some tough choices. Toughest one was giving a prison sentence to a 16 year old who had killed her baby immediately after giving birth in a hospital bathroom. Did she not know she was pregnant? Did she panic? Did she intend to kill the baby?
The jury debated for days and finally convicted of second-degree murder. The judge shocked everyone with a small sentence, something like 2 years to 10 years with credit for time served on a tether on house arrest. Everyone complained. She shouldn't have gone to prison; she should have gotten a longer term. Someone called it an illegal sentence, due to the time served clause.
Thing is, I don't recall it being appealed because the appellate decision could have come down a number of ways. The girl served a couple years in prison, and then was paroled - but not at her first opportunity.
The judge made a decision that no one was happy with and everyone learned to live with it. Seems like a good judge to me. Also, she can take forever deciding something as she weighs the variety of issues. That sounds like Supreme Court material to me, too.
Labels: ads, crime, election, eminem, judges, Marshal Mathers, Michigan Supreme Court
posted by Stephen Frye at
6:30 AM
1 Comments:
Steve: I too am tired of the endless series of attack-style ads we are being subjected to around the clock. These ads have wormed their way into the non-partisan races for judges and the Supreme Court. Demeaning to the judicial process, and the candidates, I say.
Couldn't help but notice the one slamming Judge Langford Morris for placing criminals on probation; nearly everyone gets probation. The unmistakable inference of that ad is that we're all too dumb to know the realities of the courtroom.
Judge Langford Morris runs a decent courtroom and has had to make some very tough decisions from her bench. She's been on the front lines for a long time. If she is elected for a promotion, I'll bet she resigns immediately so that Gov. Granholm can appoint a successor.
Her promotion is perhaps a long-shot though.
I recommend the series of video interviews of all three trial court judges running for Justice Young's seat on the Supreme Court. You can find those interviews on the LawBlogger blog of this newspaper. Check it out and get informed before you vote on Tuesday.
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