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State Supreme Courts
Lansing-based watchdog group Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN) yesterday quoted the figure from both Republican-appointed Taylor and the Michigan Democratic Party chairman. That would double the current national record for a single state SC campaign, MCFN stated. The Supreme Court's public image has been taking a battering over the Justices' continuous personal and political squabbles. Republican appointees currently hold a slender 4-3 majority on the state's highest court while a fifth GOP appointee has become estranged from the majority and often votes with the two "liberals." Two lower-court Michigan judges in the past two months have expressed concern over the Supreme Court's tendency to vote on cases in predictable political blocks, LNL reported last month. Decisions on controversial cases are often 4-3 and frequently accompanied by scathingly-written opinions and dissents. MCFN Director Rich Robinson recently testified to the House Judiciary Committee that Michigan is one of only three states that don't require public officials to disclose personal financial interests. That means judicial recusal in Michigan is a matter of "personal conscience" for each judge, he noted. The MCFN release said Supreme Court elections in Michigan have cost "more than $23 million" since 2000, $10 million contributed by "anonymous contributors for candidate focused issue advertising." Filed Under: State Supreme Courts Comments on this article
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