JUSTICE CLIFFORD TAYLOR MUST BE DEFEATED

The best courts money can buy — the Michigan Supreme Court being a prime example.[p]

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GOOD MORNING FLINT!
BY Terry Bankert 6/18/08
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*** * REFLECTION: A conservative regressive court affects the very fabric of our lives. Elections are a time of accountability and change. This year is one such time. Justice Clifford Taylor must be defeated.[trb] *****

Michigan Democrats aren't subtle about it: They can't stand state Supreme Court Chief Justice Clifford Taylor. [t]

THEY ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT JAMES TAYLOR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64_303eHaTM

THIS MICHIGAN TAYLOR BRINGS FIRE TO OUR RIGHTS AND RAIN ON OUR JUSTICE They regard him as a narrow Republican partisan, a disgrace to the bench and have been campaigning desperately to defeat him when he runs for another eight-year term this November.[t] The fight has been so long ,so tough ,the stakes so high, victory so near in the Obama Democratic liberal sweep some will miss him when hes gone. Possible after the rightful battle and true victory Mark Brewer will pine a lament to Clifford Taylor.[trb]

JUST TRY A HUM Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone ...Clifford...., the plans I made put an end to you I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song I just can't remember who to send it to [l modified] At a late morning news conference on the porch of the Grand Hotel, Brewer said defeating Taylor is the party's top priority for November after winning Michigan for the Democratic presidential nominee.[f]

THE MAKING OF THE END OF TAYLOR IS A HARD FOUGHT BATTLE, ITS NOT OVER ,YOUR HELP IS NEEDED Democratic State Chair Mark Brewer regularly denounces Taylor in speeches and in e-mail blasts. During last month's get-together of policy makers on Mackinac Island, Brewer passed out little pill bottles with a skull and crossbones, labeled "Injustice Incorporated."[t]

RAISE YOUR TEMPO AND HUM... I've seen fire and I've seen rain I've seen sunny days ,the Clinton years...that I thought would never end I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, ...then Engler left But I always thought that I'd see you again ...subjecting the citizens of Michigan.... to your malicious TAYLOR judicial conservative activism [l modified]

THE LEGAL OPINIONS TAYLOR PENNS SPEAK LOUDLY OF OUR RIGHTS BEING TRAMPLED ON Brewer made his case by criticizing a decision by the state Supreme Court to uphold a Michigan statute which prohibits lawsuits against drug companies for alleged damages caused by their products when those products have been approved by the FDA[f]

BRETHREN OF THE BENCH JOIN IN Even Justice Elizabeth Weaver rips the legislating tendency of the “majority of four” — Chief Justice Clifford Taylor, and Justices Maura Corrigan, Charles P. Young Jr. and Stephen Markman. In a ruling in Kreiner v. Fischer, she calls the four’s decision “an unrestrained misuse and abuse of the power of interpretation, masquerading as an exercise in following the Legislature’s intent, which needs to be corrected to comport with the actual text of MCL 500.3135.”[p]

WE BUY INSURANCE, WE GET HURT, THE COMPANIES DO NOT HAVE TO PAY At issue? Getting noneconomic damages as a result of an automobile accident. Prior to Kreiner, the law said an insured may collect “noneconomic” damages only when he or she has suffered a “serious impairment of body function” under Michigan’s No-Fault Act. For the last several years, courts have held that an injured person had suffered a serious impairment whenever the injury affected that person’s general ability to lead his or her normal life, according to the No Fault Resource Center.[p] What the Supreme Court did was change all that.[p] “Although some aspects of a plaintiff’s entire normal life may be interrupted by the impairment, if, despite those impingements, the course or trajectory of the plaintiff’s normal life has not been affected, then the plaintiff’s ‘general ability’ to lead his normal life has not been affected and he does not meet the ‘serious impairment of body function’ threshold,” wrote Justice Clifford W. Taylor.[p] Thus Mr. Kreiner, who could no longer work to the capacity he could before, was according to the majority of four generally able to lead his life — diminished as it was.[p] Say you’re injured in a car crash. Now try to determine the course and trajectory of your “normal” life, and try and figure out how “serious” the impairment has to be to get compensation after this ruling.[p]

THE LEADER OF THE PACK IS UP FOR ELECTION, ACCOUNTABILITY IS AT HAND Chief Justice Taylor is up for reelection this year, and the state Democratic Party won’t choose a nominee until this fall. Speculation is that the contest will cost $20 million, double the national record set in Illinois in 2004.[p]

MICHIGAN IS UNIQUE We’ve got a double whammy going in Michigan’s Supreme Court — one, we elect judges and thus make the elections open to campaign financing at a high level by interest groups of all stripes, and two, the state’s political parties nominate the judges who then run, tada, on the nonpartisan ballot.[p] Wiped of their ideological label, you’d like to think they’d be wiped of their ideological mindset as well. The law’s the law, isn’t it? No, it isn’t. And if you’re a plaintiff, good luck seeing any relief from this court.[p]

OUR STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND ITS LEADERS ARE ON THE HUNT FOR JUSTICE... GO GETUM MARKEE... Actually, on closer inspection,...(the bottle Brewer handed out)... it was a little Cliff Taylor head and crossbones. Inside there was no pills, but a little slip of paper informing one that Justice Taylor was against Michigan families. However, he was in favor of making "it easier for sexual predators, drunk drivers and terrorists to avoid responsibility for their crimes." [t]

SING IT LOUD Won't you look down upon me Jesus You got to help me make a stand , personal redemption after the primary debacle You just got to see me through another presidential election day My , Mark Brewer ,body's aching' and my time is at hand And I won't make it any other way,..till Cliffords done[l modified]

THE STATE CONVENTION IS THE SKIRMISH THE BATTLE IS IN NOVEMBER If it seems odd for a political party to be going after a judge like that, remember that Michigan has a very odd system. Nominees for the state supreme court are selected by the major political parties, not by any non-partisan nominating process.[t] It’s a new day and political house cleaning will sweep Michigan and the country. There will be peril in being labeled a conservative and no safe harbor by the Republican label or backing.[trb]

ALL JOIN IN Oh I've seen fire and I've seen rain I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend But I always feared that I'd see you again. [l modified]

JUSTICES HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT Once they are on the court, they then get a terrific advantage whenever they run for re-election: The ballot identifies them as "justice of the Michigan Supreme Court." People normally re-elect judges; that makes them virtually unbeatable. In fact, only one Supreme Court jurist has been defeated in modern history.[t] Yet given the full-bore attack the Dems have been waging on Justice Taylor and his record, you'd naturally assume they must have recruited a major heavy hitter to challenge him.[t] Q) So who is their candidate?[t] A) A mystery.[t] Thirteen days ago I happened to be at a Detroit dinner where Brewer was once again denouncing Taylor. "Do you have a candidate to run against him?" I asked.[t] "Yes, and we will announce who it is next week," he said. So I waited eight days, and then called Liz Kerr, the state Democratic Party spokesperson. I asked her the same question -- did they have a candidate for the state supreme court.[t] Mark might have responded.[trb] Been walkin' my mind to an easy time, November victory My back turned towards the sun Lord knows when the cold wind blows It'll turn your head around Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line, GOTV To talk about things to come Sweet dreams and Republican flying machines in pieces on the ground [l MODIFIED]

WHEN ASKED WHO THE DEMOCRATIC SUPREME COURT CANDIDATE IS SOME RESPOND "Yes, and we're not saying who it is," she said. [t] Give the Democrats some credit; the idea of a stealth candidate is somewhat intriguing. If you could get away with that, it might help focus attention on the opposition's faults, without having to reveal your own weaknesses. Unfortunately, it isn't legal under Michigan law.[t] At some point, they will have to reveal who their candidate is.[t] "I don't know why they aren't saying," said Bill Ballenger, editor of Inside Michigan Politics and a longtime Lansing insider.[t] "Maybe they don't really have one yet, or all the factions in the party aren't sold on the one they want," he said. The most likely candidate is thought to be Marietta Robinson, a highly regarded Detroit attorney who ran against Taylor in 2000. That was the year Democrats spent millions in an effort to unseat three sitting Republican justices.[t] The incumbents, thanks in large part to their ballot designation, all won easily. Taylor won by half a million votes that time, even though it was a Democratic year elsewhere in Michigan.[t] So the odds are heavily against any challenger, which may be giving Robinson (and any other potential candidates) pause before pulling the rip cord and jumping into the fray.[t] What nobody seems to be asking, however, is whether this is all working for the people of Michigan. The state has one of the least collegial, most ideologically polarized high courts in the nation.[t] As it stands now, Michigan Supreme Court judges are essentially chosen by Republican or Democratic party bureaucrats. Is that really the best way justice can ultimately be served?[t] Brewers sweet melody concludes the discussion.[trb] Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end, the Clinton era I've seen lonely times , the delegate selection battle, when I could not find a friend But I always thought that I'd see you, baby, one more time again now Thought I'd see you one more time again, it was beyond hope to defeat you, I might just survive There's just a few things coming' my way this time around now Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you Fire and rain [l modified]

DOES THE MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAVE A STEALTH CANDIDATE, IS MARK BREWER A LAWYER? IS HE THE ....... NA......... There's just a few things coming' my way this time around now[L]

---END
Posted here by Terry Bankert ... 6/17/08
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--- WHERE DID THIS STUFF COME FROM

[t] Traverse City Record eagle http://www.record-eagle.com/columnsblogs/local_story_167094534.html
[TRB] Comments of Terry Bankert to include cap headlines http://attorneybankert.com/
[L] Lyrics of Fire and rain http://www.songfacts.com/lyrics.php?findsong=761
[F] Freep.com http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080529/NEWS06/80529112
[p] The Petosky New review http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2008/06/04/columns/doc48454beb898e5398144384.txt 62648

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