COMMISSION DEFENDS JUDGES, BUT NOT JUSTICE

Michigan's Judicial Tenure Commission has long been criticized for being overly
lenient on judges who break the rules, glacially slow in making recommendations
and inconsistent in bringing charges and meting out punishment.

In its case against 86th District Court Judge Thomas Gilbert the commission not
only lived up to that reputation but also gave new weight to the public
perception that there is one set of rules for the public and another for
judges.

Commission documents in the Gilbert case paint a picture of a system built on
leniency and secrecy and deeply biased toward the people it is supposed to
judge - judges.

Some examples:

- - Instead of holding public hearings on Gilbert's admitted and widely
publicized use of marijuana at a Rolling Stones concert, the commission
"engaged in negotiations" with Gilbert to "resolve this matter short of
conducting formal" - and presumably public - proceedings.

- - After noting that Gilbert's actions "call for a sanction that includes a
significant period of suspension" and that he "should be severely sanctioned"
it reverses course: "But, in light of the mitigating factors, the Commission
chooses to temper justice with mercy."

- - The commission recommended a censure and a 90-day suspension without pay in
part because the marijuana incident happened in his "private life."

One can assume, hopefully, that if he had been puffing in the courtroom he
would have really gotten in trouble - like maybe 120 days off.

The penalty for smoking marijuana, a misdemeanor, is 90 days in jail.

The penalty for possession of marijuana, a felony, is a year in jail.

His ultimate penalty was six months off without pay.

- - Because the recommendation was the result of a negotiated settlement, Gilbert
had the opportunity to back out. As Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Weaver
pointed out, if that had happened the Tenure Commission could also have dropped
the matter entirely, with the public never hearing his admissions of regular
marijuana use in his nearly two years on the bench.

- - The commission completely downplayed that fact - that Gilbert admitted that
he had not only taken a couple of puffs during the Stones concert but that he
had used marijuana a "couple times a year" since college, including his time on
the bench. It's mentioned as a finding of fact but not brought up again.

For many people - including Weaver - Gilbert's hypocrisy merits a much harsher
penalty. During his tenure on the bench, when he was, by his own admission,
occasionally smoking pot, he handed down sentences in more than 50 substance
abuse cases.

Clearly, that's a dual standard, as is the Tenure Commission's absurd
recommendation of 90 days off.

Gilbert's actions tarnished the judicial system. The Tenure Commission's
blackened it.