People of the State of Michigan v. John Shay?

[XLFD]

On November 15, 2011 I wrote the following to the Mason County Prosecutor's Office.

 

"I am alleging a serious violation of the Michigan election law stated above.  That law states:  "A person who violates 1 or more of the following subdivisions is guilty of a felony:

(a) A person shall not attempt, by means of bribery, menace, or other corrupt means or device, either directly or indirectly, to influence an elector in giving his or her vote, or to deter the elector from, or interrupt the elector in giving his or her vote at any election held in this state."

 

Emphasis added by boldface on the type of injury I am claiming.  I am asserting that John Shay by an unconstitutional policy that was passed by the Ludington City Council on Feb. 28, 2011 and whose effects were forced upon me by him the following day, has effectively prevented me from voting at my polling place, even with recurring pleas to him to allow my entrance.  The evidence for this accusation is published, not in its entirety in this link which has many hyperlinks within that further fleshes out the specifics of this claim:  http://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/forum/topics/the-candidate-who-couldn-t-vote

 

Further evidence of the allegation is available on request.  I realize that John Shay serves the County Government by currently serving on the Mason County Board of Public Works and the Solid Waste Management Planning Committee, and hope that if this law's prosecution would pose a conflict of interest in the prosecutor's office of Mason County, that the prosecution of the same would be transferred to another agency with that power.

 

Please respond with a decision on this serious matter at your earliest convenience.  Thank you.

 

Tom Rotta"

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I had waited a little over a week, and received the following letter just before Thanksgiving:

 

I will keep everyone up to date, but will reserve the right to hold back some information so as not to give Mr. Shay or any other parties that comes under the MSP's scrutiny an undue advantage.  This Tuesday, Ludington's own WMOM broadcast on their news this information, and I have yet to hear from the LDN.  But not too surprisingly, the day after the I got the letter from the prosecutor, the Drily News did run an extremely nice human interest story about Shay on p1 and continued  on p3. 

I look at the poor job John Shay has done as City Manager over the last few years, seen the complete disregard he has for the FOIA as an FOIA Coordinator, seen his complete disregard of ethical codes of conduct and experienced his disrespect for the rights of individuals, and believe he would best serve society as a football referee-- after he serves any time for his actions, of course.

[Willy]

Atlas has a point. There is nothing in the letter which specifies where your complaint was sent or who received it. Was your complaint forwarded by email or US mail? It's not that I don't trust our county and state agencies it's that I know how paperwork can get lost in the shuffle. It would have been nice if the PA had given a few more details into the process involved and a time table as to when results of an investigation would start and be completed. Is the PA supposed to notify you when an investigation is completed or will the MSP let you know the results? Did the PA give you a name of a contact person at the MSP? How can you be sure your complaint was even forwarded to the MSP? With the level of distrust regarding the handling of your situation by local government agents, Shay and his cronies, it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep a tight reign on your complaint as it passes thru the system.

[AQUAMAN]

Good points both, I concur. This passing of the "slippery ball" is a likely candidate for loss. Good to have a follow-up plan now.

[XLFD]

I respectively disagree with all of you who brought up good points, and those whose opinions on matter such of this I value highly.  In general circumstances, I would probably agree with you.

But Prosecutor Spaniola has an "invisible prod" on his haunches, since if this investigation he leads does bog down or gets botched in some manner so that nothing is accomplished, there is not only the Michigan Attorney General looking over his work, but potentially a host of federal investigators. 

This is not only a potential criminal act as per the state law I mentioned, but a serious violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 sec. 11,12, punishable by up to five years and/or $5000 in a federal court.  It is actually an even easier burden to prove it by the federal standards.

 

So if Prosecutor Paul wants to avoid potentially become complicit in hindering an investigation (a wink to LPD's Detective Wells and the affected Baby Katers), he may want to make it at least appear he did a thorough and professional job.

[Lisa O'Brien]

XLFD,

I saw this and thought of you - maybe you should contact Charlie LeDuff and tell him your story.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/charlie_leduff/leduff-to-fican...

[XLFD]

I loved the video, and I wish I had the chutzpah and media backing to pull off my own video on Ludington City Hall's equally ridiculous policy.  Being that LPD is just down the hall from the City Hall here, I would probably be cut off a bit quicker than Charlie.  Help me keep tabs on this continuing story if you would Lisa.

 

I'll also commend you for correctly calling the City's defense for my charge of them feloniously disallowing me the right to vote in this last election.  I had a meeting with the Hart-based Michigan State Police regarding the investigation into the complaint.  I will not comment too much on how I think they handled the investigation of the complaint, but they are effectively through with the investigation process and have recommended that there is no criminal offense that occurred to the PA.  Their main point being that if I had made a special request for voting to John Shay, that he may have approved it. 

But this actually is a good thing.  For if they did take it up, the City would be prosecuted by the Mason County prosecutor in a Mason County court, investigated by nearby MSP officers, with a loosely-defined state election law.  It wouldn't go anywhere.

Now, with this investigation quickly closed, I can get it reviewed by federal officials, wherein it could be investigated by the FBI, prosecuted by federal prosecutors in a federal court much removed from this area, with a bit more clearly defined and stronger federal election law.