Three Prosecutors Race for Circuit Court Judgeship in Mason County

[XLFD]

The Good

 

First to enter the race for the 51st Circuit Court judge, being vacated by Judge Richard I Cooper, who is facing a forced retirement due to state laws based on age (state-sponsored ageism?), was current City of Ludington criminal attorney, FOIA Coordinator, and private attorney Susan Kasley Sniegowski.  Her entry as the good does not signify that she is pure, much like Clint Eastwood's role in the classic movie. 

 

She served as Mason County Prosecutor from 2005 to 2008, being ousted by the second contender after she gave him a forced retirement from her own prosecutor office for alleged insubordination.   This could make for an interesting judge race!  Here's more of her history:  http://www.masoncountypress.com/2014/03/31/sniegowski-announces-cir....  Which brings us to...

 

The Bad

 

 

Paul Spaniola was next to enter the race, hoping to turn his prominence in the news by prosecuting some high profile cases into a tour behind the bench.  He entered earlier today, and he is put down as the bad not just for being the second to enter the race.  I have asked Mr. Spaniola for help on various issues concerning illegal activity by the City of Ludington, and his replies seem to indicate that he serves as their defense attorney as well.

 

Worse, when he was supposed to be investigating voter disenfranchisement against me, he decided to libel me on public documents, and totally messed up the investigation.  For others, he let William Marble's killer off without any problem.  William Marble was spied upon by a prowler who came to his door with a drawn gun just before midnight, and shot Marble dead.  Marble had done nothing aggressive, and was not warned before he was shot.  The trooper was the member of a group, the Michigan State Police, who gave him a special award a couple of months later.

 

Several people, a couple who have been chronicled here (Todd Johnson, Fred Lewis), have been robbed of their good name and fair justice because of actions by this prosecutor to pad his conviction rate.  Now he wants to do the same as a judge-- here's his biography and a less critical history:  http://www.masoncountypress.com/2014/04/18/spaniola-announces-judge...

And before the ink hit the paper for Spaniola declaring came the third candidate whom we will call...

 

The Ugly

 

This is not a personal attack against this candidates appearance (Eli Wallach wasn't that unhandsome in the classic movie) but more of a statement of his past.  Craig Richard Cooper is the son of current Judge Richard Cooper.  He currently serves as prosecutor for Oceana County, being elected to the position in 2012 after serving as an assistant prosecutor, and as attorney for the City of Ludington. 

 

He infamously came forward and served on the City's defense team when they were being sued for FOIA violations, and wasn't acknowledged to be on the legal team for the City while his father was judge of the case for over four months.  Both Coopers were required by judicial canons and the State Bar to immediately notice this appearance of impropriety immediately.  Here are more of his qualification and his history:  http://www.masoncountypress.com/2014/04/18/cooper-hopes-to-take-his...

[AQUAMAN]

Great selection to have to choose from. Looks like the Coopers figure on having that judgeship for generations to come, and that, isn't even close to ethical, nor desirable. Esp. based on the retiring judge's temperament and lack of good common sense and fairness.

[Willy]

As far as I'm concerned Cooper and his son perpetrated fraud and a breach of ethics when the two of them remained silent about their relationship when they both were involved in the FOIA court case. How can either one of them be trusted. Then we have a running feud between Sniegowski and Spaniola.If either one of these two wins we are in for a long siege of judicial uncertainty because if Sniegowski becomes the Judge then every judgement she makes in cases brought to her by Spaniola will come into question and should be investigate to determine if any bias on her part influenced her decisions. If the roles are reversed we would have to wonder the same about Spaniola's decisions regarding Sniegowski's cases. This situation is like inbreeding which may have a crippling affect on the integrity of the Court system.

[AQUAMAN]

Well thought out and said Willy, sad, but all true and accurate. With Cooper Jr. it's birds of a feather with the Wilson, Saylor group too, shifty and crooked in every way. Too bad a real local fourth candidate with integrity can't surface soon enough.

[Willy]

It's to bad small town politics is so muddy but of course big city politics can be worse. It's just the nature of people who are politically aggressive and who think they know better than the rest of us. I prefer a townhall type meeting of governance and I would prefer a touring judge that goes from town to town so they do not entangle themselves in local politics. 

[AQUAMAN]

Think about this now: all three of these candidates are already feeding at the public trough, i.e., they all have paychecks now from the government. If any one of them were on their own in private practice, could or would they survive? Or be dismal failures? Methinks we all know that answer. Why can't we get a private practicing attorney to run for this job? One who doesn't mix the job with local politics, as what we can only expect in any of the three now.

[XLFD]

And you probably didn't know this Aquaman, but George Saylor is running for Circuit Court Judge of Manistee County this year.  There is at least one other candidate there, so I hope to put out all the hijinks that he performed during the FOIA appeal lawsuit. 

I agree with you that we need one that isn't currently being subsidized by government, one that isn't coming from a strong prosecutor's perspective.   Someone like Jeff Nellis and Peter Wadel, who came into their current judgeships through just being good attorneys.  I don't want to see a bunch of political hacks comparing their conviction rates and political pedigree.

[XLFD]

David Glancy is the fourth candidate.  This will be very interesting.  I have had occasion to spar with all four, and I am not overly fond of either of the four candidates.

http://www.masoncountypress.com/2014/04/23/glancy-is-fourth-judge-c...

[XLFD]

If you have evidence that would put Glancy on such a high pedestal, please put it out there.  I haven't seen that aspect of him.  He's actively blocked me from getting information twice, information that may have helped one of his clients. 

[XLFD]

If he comes out with the message you have ascribed to him, I would strongly consider his candidacy.  Otherwise, it's the lesser of four evils for me, and he's among the top two, and, by default, the most likely to be fair to those accused of crimes.

[XLFD]

But this will definitely make it interesting in the 51st Circuit Court for the summer and fall.  Judge candidates pitted against each other in high profile and lower profile cases.

[AQUAMAN]

I never heard of this Glancy guy until just the last year or so. Calling him a savior from heaven, albeit may be joking, sounds more sacriligious than anything else. I also don't see where porn fits in with that wrecking ball post either streeter. Surely, you can do better than this, even if it's not intended to offend far too many. Glancy appears youngish, maybe all of 35, so what's his forte, and where is he from originally? And if he's not part of the good ole boy system, how come he's the prime appointed defender in high profile cases for the MC Court system?

[XLFD]

Glancy should try to claim the ground of fairness to individuals that come before the court, at least for the primaries, when the other three candidates bump chests to see who is toughest on crime, he can adopt a more moderate stance, and gain the 30% plus needed to get past the primaries.  If he chest bumps, he will get bumped in August.

The problem will be harder after the primary; considering he will keep his primary voters, he must appeal more to those folks who chose one of the other prosecutors, meaning his campaign will most likely have to campaign more negative towards the other candidate in order to win.  His age/inexperience will also work against him, even though it really shouldn't, so he will have to successfully show some acumen.  But in a judge contest, you can't go very negative or greatly overstate your qualities.