Michigan Supreme Court Justice Brian Zahra; advocate for Judicial Misfits

The state of Michigan presented Brian K. Zahra with a law license in 1987 after he graduated from the University of Detroit Law School.

Gov. Rick Snyder was duped into appointing Brian to a seat as an Associate Justice on the Michigan Supreme Court in 2011. Brian didn’t get the appointment because he was the most qualified lawyer in Michigan. He got it because he had proven to be a reliable lackey for the local political hacks.

It should be noted that Brian has had his significant snout firmly implanted in the public trough for twenty-five years since receiving his law license in 1987. Apparently, no self-respecting law firm in the greater Detroit area was about to offer Brian a long-lasting, good paying job.

In early 2017, the Michigan Supreme Court proposed several changes to the manner in which Judicial Misfits are investigated for engaging in a variety of judicial misconduct.

One of the proposals is to create a three-year statute of limitations on the filing of an ethics complaint against a sitting judge. This proposal is laughable at best. Compare this self-serving proposal to place a time limit on exposing Judicial Misfits to other limiting statutes in Michigan, which are as follows:

• Identity theft = 6 year limiting statute
• Mortgage fraud = 10 year limiting statute
• Receiving stolen property = 6 year limiting statute
• False imprisonment = 6 year limiting statute

In addition to the above, all criminal misdemeanors in Michigan have a 6-year tolling statute. Moreover, a driving under the influence (DUI) conviction in Michigan is a criminal misdemeanor.

Justice Zahra is a proud proponent of the three-year limiting statute for pursuing charges against Judicial Misfits. In support of this laughable rule, Zahra said:

• “Why shouldn’t there be some limitation period, especially when judges go out in the world and run for office?”
• “And we know when you run for office and you’re a political figure, you have a tendency to make some enemies.”
• “People can drudge things up.”

For one thing, I wasn’t aware until now that a Judge or Justice was in fact a “political figure.” I’m glad that Justice Zahra has admitted that he’s just another Republican politician like Sen. Ted Cruz and those of his ilk.  

Zahra’s asinine rule would allow for a Judicial Misfit to whatever steps are necessary to conceal his/her misconduct from public view for a mere three years. After that time, the judge or justice could proudly announce that he/she had accepted gifts from attorneys appearing before them and then ruled in that attorney’s favor (aka, pay to play).

Maybe Justice Zahra and his comrades on the Michigan Supreme Court should just go ahead and make it illegal for anyone to file an ethics complaint against a sitting judge unless that judge is a Democrat. Justice Zahra could also lobby the state legislature to make it a criminal misdemeanor to file an ethics charge against any judge or justice in Michigan that is a Republican.

As we speak (ca. September 2017), Justice Zahra continues to sit as an Associate Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court in Lansing, Michigan.