On Tuesday, Sylvia James was the top vote-getter in the primary race for 22nd District Court judge. In a field of nine candidates, the top two will move on to the general election in November. James won handily, receiving 26 per cent of the vote, with the second-place finisher receiving 19 per cent. The ninth place finisher got four per cent.  |
| This is the guy who decides who wins |
Of course, voter turnout in Inkster was only 29.6 per cent, so essentially James won with the support of 7.7 per cent of eligible voters (one of every 13 voters) -- if you have a large family and can get them all to vote, you can probably win a primary in Inkster.
The real story here is that James was a judge in the 22nd District court until July 31, 2012, when she was removed by the Michigan Supreme Court for judicial misconduct. The Supreme Court found that in 2011 James paid other obligations from funds allocated as restitution for crime victims in her court.
It was also found that James lied during the investigation and at her hearing and she violated anti-nepotism policies in her hiring practices. She was ordered to repay more than $80,000, and removed from the bench. She had actually been off the bench since April of 2011, when the investigation began. She was suspended for over a year, WITH PAY (how does McCrabby get a gig like that?? -- Is that really punishment??).
In the decision to remove James, the justices concluded, “The purpose of these proceedings is not to impose punishment on the respondent judge ... but to protect the people from corruption and abuse on the part of those who wield judicial power.”Whoops, that didn't work.
So, if you're a voter in Inkster, what goes through your mind as you enter the voting booth? Maybe you were thinking one or more of the following:
- Well, at least she has insight into the criminal mind
- She didn't kill anyone; we could do worse
- She might never repay the $80,000+ restitution without a good job
- It doesn't matter who wins; they're all crooked
- She's still too honest to go back to being a lawyer
Is that the best we can do? Really?? REALLY??? Come on people... I couldn't even make this stuff up...
How 'bout following us on Twitter, or signing up here.. We'd love to see you.. We only have 80 folks, and we'd love to get to a couple hundred (sign up on the left, where it says "join this site") so we can see your picture on this site. And follow us on twitter (@curtmacrae), where we don't post much, but we'd love to see you there.