There will be a new Livingston County Circuit Court Judge in April when Judge Stanley J. Latreille retires after 26-years on the bench. But the real excitement will come over finding his replacement.
In predominantly Republican Livingston County, nonpartisan races are sometimes the most exciting, and voters must judge the candidate on their merits instead of them just having an R after their name. But that has not stopped the county GOP in its quest to do away with non-partisan elections.
The Governor fills judicial vacancies, and Gov. Jennifer Granholm will appoint a candidate to fill Latreille's seat after a candidate review period. The replacement judge will serve until the next election in 2010, and then they will have to run to fill the remainder of Latreille's term that runs through 2012.
We saw how the GOP tried to smear Livingston County District Judge Theresa Brennan as a whacked out troop-hating, pro-abortion liberal after the Governor appointed her to fill the vacant district judge seat. She has had to run for the seat twice after getting the appointment, and she won handily, defeating Jay Drick, a member of the county GOP's executive committee. Brennan has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Latreille's seat.
According to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, Brighton Attorney Mike Hatty has applied for the vacancy. I got to know Hatty when I was a reporter. He is the attorney for rural Deerfield Township, and I did a feature story on him. He is a stand up guy, and he would make an excellent judge.
Latreille will be missed. I met him at a fundraiser, and I covered a few court proceedings he presided over. What I really liked about him is he was once a reporter for the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News, and he is an author. He wrote the crime novel "Perjury," and it's a very good read.
2 comments:
His novel was really good I thought.
So did I. I have a copy in my personal library. I should get him to sign it.
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