MichiganRadio

Court Refuses to Remove 3 GOP Justices From Case LANSING, MI (MPRN) -

The Michigan Supreme Court has refused to remove three Republican justices from hearing a case being argued by attorney Geoffrey Fieger.

This is the first decision under a new rule that allows the justices to remove a colleague from a case.

Before this, justices decided on their own whether there was a conflict that required them to remove themselves from cases. Geoffrey Fieger was the 1998 Democratic candidate for governor and has been sharply critical of Republicans on the court. Two GOP justices have used Fieger as a foil in campaign speeches.

But Republican Justice Stephen Markman says that was a decade ago and since then, he has ruled both for and against Fieger. Markman says that proves he can rule objectively on Fieger's cases. Markman's colleagues agreed on a bipartisan vote, and applied the same reasoning to requests that Justices Robert Young and Maura Corrigan be removed from hearing a Fieger lawsuit. Two of the justices said that was all before the new recusal rule was adopted, and similar statements made today would disqualify a justice. © Copyright 2012, MPRN