DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court will decide who’s responsible for a big verdict against a Detroit-area judge.
In 2011, Julie Pucci was awarded $734,000 and legal fees in a lawsuit against Dearborn Judge Mark Somers. She said her job as deputy court administrator was eliminated after she complained that he was sending religious messages on public stationery and proselytizing from the bench.
Before the trial, Somers signed an order making Dearborn taxpayers responsible for any liability in the firing of employees. But the Michigan appeals court said the local court can’t be forced to pay Pucci’s award because the verdict against Somers’ was in his “personal capacity.”
The Supreme Court said recently it will hear arguments at a later date. Meanwhile, Pucci continues to collect a portion of Somers’ salary.
- Posted May 03, 2017
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Justices to decide who pays for judge's legal mess
headlines Macomb
headlines National
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- Judge accused of using ‘game or jail’ tactic, asserting abuse victims get ‘Super Bowl’ neurochemicals
- Prosecutor gets suspension for invading jury’s ‘inner sanctum’
- Lateral hiring bounced back in 2024, especially for associates in BigLaw, new NALP report says
- Refugee ban can’t be enforced against those who received conditional approval, 9th Circuit says
- ABA, more than 50 bar associations condemn ‘government actions that seek to twist the scales of justice’
