Culture Wars Come To Court: Michigan Judges Required To Use Litigants' Preferred Pronouns

The Michigan Supreme Court, currently dominated by Democrats, has passed an edict that, come 2024, all judges in Michigan must address the parties before them using the parties preferred pronouns.

MLive: Michigan judges must use preferred pronouns in court come 2024

All involved in state court cases are now required to use an individual’s preferred pronouns and corresponding honorific when referring to them in court according to a new rule passed down by the Michigan Supreme Court.

The only safety valve if a judge does want to use a ridiculous Ze, Xim, Xer or other ridiculousness is to address the participant by their role such as juror, attorney, defendant, etc.

In short the potential for stupidity and making a mockery of the court system is obvious with the Michigan Supreme Court deciding to go woke.

Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. 

As such, starring in 2024 my preferred pronouns in court will be M'Lord and His Majesty.

Democrat Justice Bernstein Sayeth The Quiet Part Out Loud

Democrat Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein ruffled a few progressive feathers recently.

He dared ask if it was it really a wise choice for his fellow Supreme Court justice to hire as a law clerk an ex-felon who had gone to prison for 14 years for armed robbery and shooting at police officers?

I mean, there is a large  pool of Democrat Law Clerk candidates.  Indeed there  are countless many smart and qualified candidates (regardless of my not agreeing with their politics), for a very competitive spot.

So, Justice Kyra Bolden (the first Black Woman Michigan Supreme Court Justice) decided to take on a Defund the Police theme, play the race card, make some waves, and hire someone whose claim to fame was taking shots at cops?  

Bernstein rightly pointed out that this was a political stunt and a rather inane hiring decision and it didn't look good for the Court.

After all was that hire with that kind of baggage really the best and brightest the progressives have in the law clerk department?  Answer - obviously not.

The Left, of course, was up in arms over one of its Democrat Supreme Court justices pointing out the inanity of the hiring and doing a reality check.  So much so that Justice Bernstein had to publicly apologize for "interfering:" in Justice Bolden's hiring decisions.

The Detroit News: Justice Bernstein issues apology over criticisms of fellow justice, clerk

Now of course the left is calling Justice Bernstein's statement and criticism of Justice Bolden's decision "an attack on Black women", for verily one may not criticize the bad decision of a member of a protected class, neh?

So, good for Justice Bernstein, even as an anti-gun Democrat, having the courage to point out reality and showing at least some common sense.

Also, we now have a new leftist euphemism on the books:  convicts released from prison are now called "returning citizens".

Gov Half-Whit: I'll Play Politics And Sue - Though There Is No Actual Case

In election years politicians do dumb things. Gov Half-Whit offers no exception to this rule, and if anything, proves it.

Here, our dear Governor Whitmer, ready to burnish her Democrat and Feminist credentials has filed a non-justiciable lawsuit. As a lawyer she should darn well know it 

Justiciability requires that there be an actual case or controversey in order for a court to make a decision.

You can't sue and ask the court to decide a hypothetical, you have to have a real actual conflict or actual wrongdoing violation, or real threat of penalty or sanction in order for a court to rule.

Gov Whitmer knows this, she is, after all, an attorney but she doesn't care.

The Detroit News: Great Lakes Justice Center to represent 2 county prosecutors named in Whitmer's abortion suit

Whitmer's lawsuit filed earlier this month challenging a 1931 ban on abortion came in anticipation that the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that enshrined abortion as a constitutional right.

The lawsuit names 13 county prosecutors, seven Democrats and six Republicans, who may be called on to enforce the 1931 law in counties where abortion clinics are present. 

Note the issue - it's filed in anticipation of the law being restored, the Federal case has not been heard yet, so the 1931Michigan ban is not currently operative and thus cannot be litigated as there is no real case or controversy.

Note also how she doesn't name all Michigan county prosecutors and interestingly enough, the Democrat prosecutors she sued have all agreed to not enforce the ban - nice collusion there, eh? (which again, cannot even be enforced yet).  

Whitmer weirdly filed in Oakland County Circuit Court rather than the court of claims and is trying to jump it straight to the Michigan  Supreme Court.

Even stranger, she's the Executive of the State trying to overturn a law passed by the Legislature and a Prior Executive, as defunct and non-enforceable as it may be. Funny how she's not trying to preemptively and properly overturn it legislatively, neh?

Both the Oakland County Circuit Court and Michigan Supreme Court should dismiss this case out of hand as its non-justiciable, frivolous, and untimely.  The courts should sanction her for this kind of political grandstanding and knowingly bringing such a quite frankly BS case before the court.

Some Woke Cases Apparently Will Get Fast-Tracked, While A Much More Vital One Languishes

The Michigan Supreme Court will drop everything and take up a case of a juvenile sentenced by a good judge to a juvenile facility due to her violation of her probation conditions.

The Detroit Free Press: Michigan Supreme Court reviewing case of teenager incarcerated after not doing schoolwork

Again, she wasn't incarcerated for failing to do her school work, she was incarcerated for violating terms of probation for her theft and assault convictions, with a key term of that probation being she does her school work. In general, being on probation is a state of grace, and if you fail to abide by the terms of that probation you get sent to a facility, in this case Children's Village, to complete your sentence or until the judge decides you can get another chance. This isn't exactly a new nor a surprising thing.

Instead of owning up to failing probation, the woke crowd is crying it's not fair the judge required her to do her homework, and such a condition of probation is clearly racist.

A quick clue - it is not. Every single case I've seen with a student placed on probation, one of the key terms of that probation is they stay in school and do their homework - this is not a racial thing at all but a very standard condition.

Note however, that in this case the convicted juvenile in question is Black, and she's thus being used as a BLM cause celebre and the woke-sters are lining up, including our Democrat-dominated Supreme Court, becuase its unfair to lock her up in children's village for failing to do her homework.

Interesting isn't it how the Supreme Court will drop everything and intervene and fast track such a case affecting a convicted criminal beyond normal procedures.

But for a case that affects the entire state, well not so much.

The Detroit News: Supreme Court won't hear challenge of Whitmer's emergency powers before Court of Appeals

The Michigan Supreme Court denied permission on Thursday for the Republican-controlled House and Senate to argue their case challenging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency powers to the high court without first pleading their case to the Court of Appeals.

Yes, the Michigan Supreme Court will continue to slow-walk perhaps the biggest constitutional question this state has faced in a cengtury - Whether Governor Whitmer's use of the 1945 law and her establishment of a basically dictatorial executive ruling without any checks or balances from the legislative branch is constitutional - especially as it disregards the subsequent 1976 law on the same subject that specifically encompasses pandemics, and will probably continue slow-walking it until this pandemic is all over. But, for a minor BLMer who violated her parole, they'll drop standard procedure and rapidly intervene.

Curious, that.

Michigan Democrats Bemoan Lack of Diversity . . . Caused By Michigan Democrats

The latest bit of hand-wringing comes from the realization that with the defeat of Justice Kris Wilder (Republican) and his replacement with a white female Democrat, the Democrats have managed to create a State Supreme Court with no Black people on it for the first time in 33 years.

The Detroit News: Michigan Supreme Court won't have black justice for first time in 33 years

This leads to a call for diversity, meaning more Black people on the court from certain Democrat constituents.

The lack of diversity on the Michigan Supreme Court has the local African-American legal community worried. The issue is of "great concern" to the Rev. Wendell Anthony, head of the Detroit branch of the NAACP.

Given the Democrat slate was very much blindingly White and mostly female this year from the Governor on down, with a single token Black pro-Hamas lieutenant-governor thrown in from Detroit to prevent it from being completely White, this is difficult to achieve.

In short, this lack of Blacks on the court this year is the Democrat's fault and the Democrat's fault alone. Then again, one would have hoped the Democrats would had moved from color of skin to content of character by now, but apparently they have not.

Of course, when Anthony of the NAACP and other Dems want Black folks on the court, they want the Black folk to be the right sort.

But voters should elect and the governor should appoint people of color as judges because they provide "a diversity of value," Anthony said.

But he makes exceptions for some judicial conservatives such as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who has not sided with minority groups on rulings such as affirmative action in university admissions and other issues affecting women or minorities.

"The black skin does not make you a kin to the real issues impacting minorities and women in this nation," Anthony said. "We need people who are professional but who are also sensitive and who are learned and who look at the totality of the impacts of issues on our community.

In other words Anthony's idea of diversity of value is only skin deep.

The right value added proposition according to him means appointing people who think like him to the court. Diversity of thought or even worse, a Black Justice leaving the Democrat plantation is simply not to be permitted.

Name that Party! Michigan Supreme Court Justice Pleads Guilty to Federal Felony Fraud Charge

If you didn't already know, then reading the Detroit Free Press Article:

Former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway pleads guilty to felony bank fraud

won't tell you the party affiliation of the recently retired after a formal complaint was filed against her based on this fraud, and now convicted of bank fraud Justice Diane Hathaway.

Yes, you guessed it. She's a Democrat.

Funny how that got left out.