It’s been almost two years since the Michigan State Police raided Theresa Brennan’s courtroom and home, looking for evidence of perjury and other crimes.
And yet, Theresa Brennan is still on the bench in Livingston County. Although she was removed from hearing cases last summer, she’s still a Livingston County District Court judge and she’s still collecting her annual salary of $143,844.
The police raided her courtroom and home on May 3, 2017. That was almost two years ago. The allegations of wrongdoing surfaced long before that.
So we need to ask the question: WHY IN THE HELL IS SHE STILL ON THE BENCH?
It takes almost TWO YEARS to investigate a judge’s bad (and possibly criminal) behavior? It takes almost TWO YEARS to bring this case to fruition?
It takes almost TWO YEARS for Livingston County residents to get some justice?
Brennan, of course, is under investigation for a host of alleged crimes and misdeeds, including having an affair with the lead detective in a murder case she was presiding over. She now faces criminal charges for perjury and tampering with evidence. If you want to go over all the details, you’ll find it here.
This has been dragging on for almost two years. This is ridiculous, and it looks like the case is no closer to being resolved.
As Livingston County residents, we should be outraged. The state is slapping us in the face. And every single agency and department that plays a role in this should be ashamed.
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission should be ashamed. It finally got around to bringing Brennan to trial late last year, even though the investigation began in early 2017. The “master” in charge of the case has recommended that Brennan be removed from the bench, but who in the hell knows when that will finally happen. The next hearing on the case isn’t scheduled until March. They’ve been taking their sweet time on this for almost two years, and they don’t appear to be in any rush to see it through. They should be ashamed of themselves.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office should be ashamed. It took until December 2018 before criminal charges were filed against Brennan. That was about 18 months after her courtroom and home were raided. It took you 18 months to examine all that evidence? Really?
The State of Michigan is slapping Livingston County in the face, plain and simple. We have an absolutely awful judge on our bench, and they’re in no rush to resolve the case.
TWO YEARS? Seriously? The entire O.J. Simpson case was resolved in far less time than that.
It’s obvious that the state doesn’t give a damn about us. There’s no other explanation.
When this case first broke, I thought that Brennan would save herself the embarrassment of going through all of this by resigning, but she clearly has no shame or no regard for the people who elected her three times. She has no intention of resigning. She’s clearly content to collect her $143,844 salary until she’s either thrown out of office or taken off to jail.
If you followed the testimony that came out in November, when her case FINALLY came to trial before the Judicial Tenure Commission, it was pathetic. Brennan was revealed to be totally unprepared to be a judge, and when she did become a judge, she was a terrible one.
But as of today, she’s still a judge. She’s still our judge. She’s still a Livingston County District Court judge, and we’re still paying her $143,844 a year.
Credit our state legislators — Sen. Lana Theis, Rep. Hank Vaupel, Rep. Ann Ballin and former Sen. Joe Hune — for at least trying to do something about this. Theis introduced impeachment proceedings against Brennan last year as a last resort.
I’d like to see them banging on the door of the Michigan Supreme Court every day until this is resolved, demanding that the State of Michigan stop slapping us in the face.
I know that the wheels of justice turn slowly. But there’s no way in hell they need to turn this slowly.
