08/11/2006

Editorial

Haley owes constituents apology for ticket fiasco

The Michigan Supreme Court issued a guilty verdict, and now it's time to hear contrition from the offender: 86th District Judge Michael Haley.

The high court publicly censured Haley July 31 for his foolish acceptance of college football tickets during an open court session back in October 2003. The Supreme Court's decision completes the official, legal circle in a case that tarnished the local criminal justice system.

But it's up to Haley to close the loop, and he can only do so through a public apology. He needs to face taxpayers and voters in his three-county district court region and issue a genuine mea culpa for his poor decisions.

Haley's never come close to acknowledging he did anything wrong when he accepted a pair of University of Michigan football tickets from local attorney Richard Benedict during a hearing for one of Benedict's clients.

Instead, he denied wrongdoing and fought the state's Judicial Tenure Commission tooth-and-nail as it probed an allegation of impropriety lodged against him by an Antrim County sheriff's deputy.

He bad-mouthed the deputy, banned him from his courtroom, denied writing a letter to the Antrim sheriff that outlined his bailiff ban, and more or less pointed accusatory fingers at everyone but himself.

The Supreme Court, in uniquely dysfunctional fashion, dismissed Haley's excuse-making and ruled his "misconduct significantly harmed the public's perception of the judiciary."

Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Weaver, of Glen Arbor, thought Haley should have been suspended for a month, but ultimately agreed with the censure, a sort of black mark on a judge's permanent file.

"Judge Haley's actions in accepting the tickets on the bench, during a criminal hearing in which Mr. Benedict was representing the defendant, created an appearance of impropriety that deeply damaged the judicial system," Weaver wrote.

Haley said he didn't feel at liberty to comment on a state Supreme Court ruling.

"Whether the decision is good, bad, or indifferent for me, it's like passing a kidney stone," Haley said. "I'm just glad it's over with."

Careful readers might note that Haley's concern didn't go beyond himself.

None of the high court justices believed Haley accepted a bribe, a conclusion with which we agree. He's guilty, instead, of temporary stupidity, inappropriate behavior, belligerence, stubbornness and a lack of remorse.

Local taxpayers didn't fare well in this case, as Haley's ongoing legal and public relations bills topped $87,000 and were covered through a taxpayer-funded insurance policy, including direct payment by Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Antrim counties of a $75,000 deductible.

Haley wouldn't accept remorselessness from a criminal on the other side of his bench, nor should taxpayers accept it from him. He's been found guilty, after all.