Michigan Supreme Court Weighs in on Wayne County Judge Misconduct

When a judge misuses the power and trust that we’ve given them, bad things happen. The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission is a part of the process that polices our bad judges. This week, the Michigan Supreme Court made a decision about Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree. The court ruled that McCree (a) had a sexual relationship with a complaining witness in a case pending before him without recusing himself for several months, (b) engaged in numerous one sided communications with her concerning the case, as well as concerning another case in which one of her relatives was a party, (c) violated various policies of the courthouse by permitting his mistress to enter the facility through an employee entrance without going through security, allowing her to remain alone in his chambers while he was on the bench, arranging for her to park her vehicle in an area reserved for judges, and sneaking her cell phone into the courthouse for her, (d) transmitted numerous text messages to her while he was on the bench that contained inappropriate and derogatory references to defendants, litigants, and witnesses appearing before him, (e) lied about when and why he finally did recuse himself from the case in which his mistress was the complaining witness, (f) sought to use the prosecuting attorney’s office as leverage against his then ex-mistress by concocting charges of stalking and extortion against her, and (g) lied under oath during the Judicial Tenure Commission proceedings.

Consequences Of Judicial Misconduct

The cumulative effect of Judge McCree’s misconduct convinced our Supreme Court that Judge McCree should not remain in judicial office and therefore removed him from the bench and conditionally suspended him without pay for six years beginning on January 1, 2015, with the suspension becoming effective only if he is reelected to judicial office in November 2014. Further, because McCree engaged in conduct involving “deceit, or intentional misrepresentation,” the court ordered him to pay costs of $11,645.17 to the JTC.

The attorneys at The Kronzek Firm comment that Michigan has no place in our justice system for crooked judges. Judges are the stewards of the finest legal system in the world despite its problems. We appreciate the vast majority of Michigan judges who make the system work by being hard working, fair and ethical. It’s often a thankless job.