Judge Tracy Green apparently is a step closer to losing the Wayne County Circuit Court seat she won in a 2018 election.
She "concealed evidence that her son abused her grandsons," conclude two staff members at the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, The Detroit News reports in a subscribers-only article. The nine-member commission investigates allegations against judges, and its staffers recommend that Green be removed by the Michigan Supreme Court.
Judge Tracy Green was elected four years ago. (Photo: YouTube/2018)
Based on an investigation and hearing, they find that the Detroit judge "violated the criminal law by tampering with evidence of a crime."
"She lied about having done that, and told multiple related lies in court, to the media, during the Commission’s investigation, and during the hearing before the Master [a retired judge appointed as a fact-finder].
"Her conduct was also selfish in that she was trying to save face in supporting her abusive son at the expense of her grandsons, while she ran for judge in 2018 on the platform that she was a child and family welfare advocate."
The newspaper adds this background:
Green's son was convicted in 2019 of two counts of second-degree felony child abuse in Wayne County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to concurrent 4- to 10-year prison terms for each conviction.
The commission lodged a complaint against Green in November 2020.
Earlier coverage, March 4:
Wayne County Circuit Judge Tracy Green lied to investigators when she said she wasn't aware her son was physically abusing her grandsons.
That's the conclusion of retired Ann Arbor trial Judge Betty Widgeon, appointed last year by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission to serve as a fact-finder after the commission filed a misconduct complaint against Green in November 2020, The Detroit News reports.
A 27-page ruling released earlier this week found Green violated Michigan court rules and state professional conduct guidelines by hiding evidence of the child abuse and falsely claiming she didn't know about it.
The Judicial Tenure Commission can conduct more hearings or send the matter to the Michigan Supreme Court, which can impose a punishment ranging from censure to removal.
In a written response, Green's attorney Michael Ashcraft of Bloomfield Hills told the commission:
"Judge Green has been truthful in responding to the Commission’s questions and testifying at a hearing concerning the use of makeup. There was a single occurrence when she applied liquid foundation to the cheek of (a grandson) when he had been slapped in the face by his father. The Judge explained precisely what had occurred in her response to the very first request for comment and the explanation has remained the same since that time."
"There is no evidence in the record proving the foundational elements of child abuse and actual knowledge of child abuse."
