Stearn Wins Criminal Case

The Law Offices of Todd J. Stearn scored another victory last week when the Livingston County Prosecutor's Office dropped a charge of reckless driving against one of Stearn's clients. Stearn stated, "My client was not guilty and we persuaded the Prosecutor's Office that it would be very difficult to prove their case even though they had threatened to bring more than 20 witnesses to testify at trial." Reckless driving has a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail, an automatic suspension of a driving license and carries six (6) points on a driving record.

New Supreme Court Justice

Incumbent Chief Justice Clifford Taylor of the Michigan Supreme Court conceded defeat to his challenger, Democratic nominee Diane Hathaway. Hathaway's win signals a major shake-up, reducing a 5-2 Republican majority to 4-3 on the state's highest court, where one of the Republican-nominated justices, Elizabeth Weaver, has been a frequent dissenter from majority opinions. Taylor is the first sitting Supreme Court justice to lose his seat since Republican nominee Dorothy Comstock Riley ousted Thomas Giles Kavanagh in 1984. He is the first sitting chief justice defeated at the polls since statehood.

Since Cliff Taylor has been on the Court, the Republican dominated court has frequently trounced on individual's rights in favor of big business and insurance companies. The Court has made it much more difficult for injured victims to collect for injuries suffered in car accidents, slip and falls and from medical malpractice.