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No. 128843
| In the Matter of |
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Brian Einhorn |
HON. DAVID MARTIN BRADFIELD |
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Judge, 36th District Court
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| (Before the Judicial Tenure Commission) |
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Paul J. Fischer |
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Background
Judge David Martin Bradfield is a judge of the 36th District Court in Detroit. The JTC brought a formal complaint against the judge, alleging that judge engaged in two angry, near-violent outbursts. According to the JTC complaint, on April 6, 2005, Bradfield confronted a man whom he believed was improperly parked near the judges’ entrance to the courthouse. During the confrontation, Bradfield allegedly stated that he was a judge, and then used profanity and assaulted the man. He later learned that the man was Anthony Adams, the Deputy Mayor of Detroit, and that Adams was waiting outside the judges’ entrance in order to meet his wife, 36th District Court Judge Deborah Ross Adams. The JTC alleges that Bradfield’s angry tirade against Adams continued during a meeting which included the others involved in the dispute and the chief judge of the 36th District Court. The JTC also alleges that Bradfield was involved in another parking dispute in October 2002. The judge allegedly sought to park in a reserved section of the Gem Theatre’s parking lot and responded angrily when told that the reserved spaces would not be available to the 36th District Court judges until the following week. At a public hearing on the JTC complaint, the judge admitted that he had violated Canon 1 of the Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct by failing to “observe the high standards of conduct necessary to the preservation of the integrity and independence of the judiciary.” He also admitted that he had violated Canon 2A, which requires judges to avoid “all impropriety and appearance of impropriety” so that public confidence in the judiciary will not be “eroded by irresponsible or improper conduct by judges.” The JTC concluded that the judge’s actions also violated Canon 2B, because he failed to respect and observe the law, and that he had also violated two Michigan Court Rules governing judges’ behavior. Noting that Bradfield had been disciplined on two previous occasions, the JTC recommended that the Supreme Court suspend the judge for one year without pay and require him to undergo intensive psychological treatment to control his anger. The judge appeals. He argues that the recommended one-year suspension is overly harsh, and he proposes that he be suspended without pay for 90 days. He also argues that the Supreme Court does not have the authority to order him to attend psychotherapy.
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