font-weight: bold; width: 150px; color: white; There, she was forced to don an orange shirt and sit handcuffed to a metal bench for a day. There is a way to deal with both of those situations. Jail staff would not allow her to stand up or use the bathroom in privacy. The Michigan Supreme Court suspended Sylvia in April 2011 after the Judicial Commission filed its charges, which included a claim that she tapped the court fund for over $100,000 in travel, landscaping, untaxed bonus pay and new uniforms for Inkster High School junior varsity cheerleaders. This story has been shared 165,393 times. In one report, she noted that the district attorney dropped an arrest warrant for a relative of Marisela Jacaman, a member of his own staff. In his majority opinion, Ho framed the case as a simple one: If the First Amendment means anything, he wrote, it surely means that a citizen journalist has the right to ask a public official a question, without fear of being imprisoned. It should be patently obvious to any reasonable police officer, he continued, that the conduct alleged in the complaint constitutes a blatant violation of Villarreals constitutional rights. He therefore denied the officials immunity. A local judge spends $2K on clothing, how else is she spending your money? This is an exceedingly troubling case, he opined. In a Dec. 20 report, aretired judge who reviewedevidence in a lengthy Judicial Tenure Commission hearing last fall against Brennan said Brennan committed"gross misconduct"byconcealing her relationship with Furlong, a lead investigator in the Kowalski case. If you need help with the Public File, call (313) 222-0566. He sounded furious. Correction: An earlier version of this story should have said Sylvia James is a former Wayne County judge. Salcido faces one count each of aggravated fleeing of a law enforcement officer . Counties | It should not be difficult to understand why government conspiracies to jail critics are a danger to the First Amendment. Clear editor. Its been a months-long heavy weight fight between Judge James and Inksters mayor, council, and treasurer. font-weight: bold; Yet this brief exchange formed the basis of an alleged conspiracy that would eventually place Gonzalez in jail. They say the judge wont tell them how she spends $2 million the court collects annually. The administrative office of the Michigan Supreme Court place James on administrative leave while it expanded its earlier audit of the court. Wright claimed that, when Gonzalez placed the petitions in her binder, she violated an obscure Texas law that bars individuals from conceal[ing] any government record. Normally, a person charged with such a minor crime is asked to appear before a judge at a specific date. She has continued to receive pay and benefits as thecomplaint process plays out. Trials may be conducted in person if approved by the Chief Judge. judge sylvia james chargeddoorstead property management. Twelve people have been indicted on charges of importing 7.5 tons of cocaine from Colombia and laundering more than $25 million since 1980, Federal authorities announced today. By In addition, she: (1) denied people access to the court by instituting and enforcing an improper business-attire policy; (2) employed a family member in violation of court policy; and (3) made numerous misrepresentations of fact under oath during the investigation and hearing of this matter. Who does this judge think she is a Chinese sub-tier supplier Says something about the character of the electorate when corruption is identified, but continues to be institutionalized. dvelopper et amliorer nos produits et services. Ho is an unlikely candidate for this role. The comments of visitors or guest authors to the website are their opinions and do not therefore reflect our opinions. I'm curious to see if this abuse of power will go unpunished. background-color: white; The Michigan Supreme Court has removed 17 judges in the 51 years since the Judicial Tenure Commission, or JTC, was created and charged with investigating complaints against the judiciary. Later, Villarreal filed a lawsuit alleging that Laredo officials violated her First Amendment rights. (Wright was not a detective or even a law enforcement officer of any kind.). .widget-row.Green { Contact Kayla Daugherty at 517-552-2848 or kdaugherty@gannett.com. If you have a medical marihuana question or comment, please email them to me, or leave them on the forum for the MMMA, and I will try to answer them live on the air. display: inline-block; Ash previously served as chair of the Board of Directors of the MCU, a credit union that primarily serves New York City civil servants, such as firefighters, sanitation workers and police officers. 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. She is best known for her time as the Mistress of Ceremonies of the House of Blues Sunday Gospel Brunch, and her appearances in her signature long, white embroidered dress with a wide, feathered hat.. St. James has performed solo and as a leader of the St. James Gospel Choir on the television show . judge sylvia james charged. Therefore, the Court adopted the recommendations of the JTC, except with respect to costs respondent will be ordered to pay, as would be detailed later. A Judge with a loaded gun in the airport. Prosecutors cited a provision of Texas lawone they had never before enforcedthat criminalizes the act of soliciting or receiving nonpublic information from a public servant with intent to obtain a benefit. Prosecutors alleged that Villarreal violated this law because she sought the benefit of more Facebook followers. A judge threw out the charges, finding the law unconstitutionally vague. March 3, 2023 10:14 AM EST. Law enforcement expressed their contempt for her journalism. Is she elected or appointed to her judgeship? After completing her prison term, the 64-year-old Ash will serve an additional two years of supervised release and a special condition of 20 hours of community service. She would be arrested on Oct. 11, 2019. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. On December 13, 2021, Judge Ash was convicted in federal court of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, and making a false statement to a federal agent. display: inline-block; Brooklyn Judge Sylvia Ash was arrested at La Guardia . INKSTER, Mich. (WXYZ) - Shes a local judge who rules her courtroom with an iron fist. State executives | Think Youre Smarter Than a What Next Producer? Sign up for our free summaries and get the latest delivered directly to you. BELMONT Local resident and state Rep. Michael Sylvia has been living on his property in violation of local and state regulations, a town official testified at a court hearing Thursday. . But the latest dispute is over the courts bank accounts. In August 2012, she was removed from office for the remainder of her term by the Michigan Supreme Court. The next month, prosecutors say, Ash lied in her voluntary interview with the U.S. Attorney's office. Judge LaMar conducts all other hearings by Google Meets. Ultimately a prosecutor chose not to charge her; [or dismissed a pending charge? This first is among several of Judge Cooks' pioneering lifetime achievements which have included being the first African American to serve on the LSU Law School's Law Review, [] Also, the attorney said that audits conducted by the Michigan Supreme Court never found any wrongdoing with how Judge James was using the court's funds. Get free summaries of new Michigan Supreme Court opinions delivered to your inbox! Any updates? Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. James is facing embezzlement charges after being accused of misusing judicial funds to buy personal items. See how they like it. After Inkster District Judge Sylvia James was removed from the bench in 2012 for misusing public funds, including money meant for crime victims, she ran for her old seat in the following. Salcido. Candidates were given one of five ratings: Outstanding, Well Qualified, Qualified, Not Qualified or No Rating. It was calculated, Kaplan said of the scheme. How to run for office | You can explore additional available newsletters here. She was a lawyer and a judge and she knew exactly what she was doing. Judge Sylvia James removed from bench July 31, 2012, 11:50 PM The Michigan Supreme Court just issued a ruling that says Chief Judge Sylvia James of Inkster's 22 nd District Court will. Inkster Judge Sylvia James is guilty of misusing court funds says report issued today. Si vous souhaitez personnaliser vos choix, cliquez sur Grer les paramtres de confidentialit. Paste as plain text instead, He graduated from Harvard College in 1981, and his J.D . He is a board member with the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association (MMMA), a nonprofit patient advocacy group with over 20,000 members, which advocates for medical marihuana patients, and caregiver rights. All rights reserved. On October 26, 1965, police found Sylvia Likens's emaciated corpsecovered with more than 150 wounds ranging from burns to cutssprawled on a filthy mattress in the Indianapolis home of 37-year-old Gertrude Baniszewski, mother of seven and the architect of the girl's . Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines. Never mind being minutes late, you wont get in to see her. border:1px solid #FFB81F; font-size: .9em; The Michigan Supreme Court has removed 17 judges in the 51 years since the Judicial Tenure Commission, or JTC, was created and charged with investigating complaints against the judiciary. }. On July 31, 2012, the Michigan Supreme Court removed James from office for the remainder of her term which ended December 31.[2]. Report your Judge, Lawyer or Government Office . He will now be retried, 10 years later, in the 2008 killings of his brother and sister-in-law, Richard andBrenda Kowalski. The panel reasoned that law enforcement had probable cause to arrest Gonzalez, and that she had not proven that similarly situated individuals had engaged in the same criminal conduct without getting arrested. Search for: Search. Judge James filed a petition asking the Court to reject that recommendation. You're all set! "Although some of her misconduct, considered in isolation, does not justify such a severe sanction, taken as a whole her misconduct rises to a level that requires her removal from office." color: white; The Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC) recommended that the Supreme Court remove Respondent 22nd District Court Judge Sylvia A. James from office for judicial misconduct. A corrupt former Brooklyn judge was sentenced to 15 months in prison Wednesday after being convicted of obstruction of justice charges a case that struck at the heart of the criminal justice system, a federal jurist said. } Pasted as rich text. Subscribe today and get. He fills his opinions with trollish partisan rhetoric, railing against abortion, gun control, vaccine mandates, cancel culture, and the woke Constitution. Recently, he announced that he would boycott clerks from Yale Law School, asserting (dubiously) that the school silenced conservative voices. READ THE FACTS BEFORE YOU BELIEVE THE OLD TACTIC OF DISHONEST LAWYERS, JUDGES AND GOVERNMENT When Laredo officials discovered these calls, they secured a warrant for her arrest. judge sylvia james charged. margin: auto; The evidence established that respondent misappropriated public funds, some of which were intended for victims of crime in the city of Inkster. word-wrap: break-word; mesurer votre utilisation de nos sites et applications. afficher des publicits et des contenus personnaliss en fonction de vos profils de centres dintrt; mesurer lefficacit des publicits et contenus personnaliss; et. In the court's opion that issuedTuesday, James was also ordered topaycosts, fees and expenses incurred in prosecuting the complaint, along with appropriate restitution. .widget-row.Democratic { Since the audit turned up some "questionable spending," the judge was placed on leave "until further court order. When the district attorney caught wind of these events, he dropped all charges. Ballotpedia features 395,577 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. Sylvia James, a former Michigan state court judge, was removed from the bench by the Michigan Supreme Court in 2012 after the state Judicial Tenure Commission ("JTC") investigated her for financial and other misconduct and recommended her removal. The 5th Circuit, he wrote, had left the American people vulnerable to public officials who choose to weaponize criminal statutes against citizens whose political views they disfavor. He decried Gonzalezs tormenters-in-office for violating the most fundamental value in American democracy by using the coercive powers of government to punish and silence their critics. And he insisted that Gonzalez had every right to sue them for their heinous and unconstitutional scheme to arrest her for stating unpopular viewpoints..