Schuette files action to remove Granholm judicial appointee

Michigan’s new Attorney General wasted no time upon taking office. On top of announcing he would pursue litigation started by his predecessor Mike Cox over the health care reform law passed by Congress last year, Bill Schuette filed an action Thursday in the appeals court seeking to remove newly appointed District Court Judge Hugh Clarke, Jr.

Clarke was appointed to the bench in the 54-A District Court by former Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Clarke filled a seat vacated by Amy Krause when she was elevated to the Appeals Court by Granholm.

Schuette says the appointment of Clarke was only good from Dec. 20 until Jan. 1. He says that Clarke was not eligible to take over the new terms Krause won in November, before her appointment.

“In Michigan, the Constitution governs us. We govern not by whims but by the rule of law, irrespective of partisanship,” said Schuette in a press release on the AG’s website.

To deal with the situation, Schuette filed an action in the state court of appeals to remove Clarke.

The website explains the motion this way:

Under state law, the Attorney General may seek, via a quo warranto motion, to remove a person who “unlawfully holds or exercises a state office.” In the complaint, the Attorney General’s office charges that Clarke is not lawfully permitted to serve in office at this time because the state constitution says that vacancies filled by the governor expire at “12 noon of the first day of January next succeeding the first general election held after the vacancy occurs?”

If Schuette is successful in removing Clarke, Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, will select a replacement. Snyder is already searching for a replacement for Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan, who announced Thursday that she was resigning her position effective Jan. 14 to take a position leading the state’s department of human services.