The Michigan Supreme Court has a tricky image problem, and veteran Lansing commentator Tim Skubic describes it starkly: "Justice Diane M. Hathaway is described in a complaint from the U.S. Attorney as a money launderer and maybe more."And even though the state's top court is nonpolitical, theoretically, Skubic sees a partisan response. "Let the piling on begin," he says in a commentary as political analyst on Fox 2 News.
Republican Justice Robert Young, Jr. opines it is time for his Democratic colleague and or her attorney to "clear the air." Which is a nice way of saying prove that you are innocent now. . . .
The mouthpiece for the state GOP lamented that she "must protect the integrity" of the court and take "swift and immediate action" to resign from that court.
Apparently the Republican Party misplaced the notion of innocent until proven guilty. But the Democrats would do the same thing if a GOP member of the court were in hot water.
A civil case filed by federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade says Hathaway participated in a real estate transaction in which she "hid assets in order to support her claim [to a bank] that [she] did not have the financial resources to pay" a Michigan mortgage. The feds call that fraud.
Hathaway has indicated she won't resign. "The next move is up to Justice Hathaway, whose silence is not so golden for the high court," Skubic says.
