Chris Andrews, Lansing State Journal, February 14, 2008
Suspended Judge Beverley Nettles-Nickerson lied, fabricated evidence, coerced subordinates and made false charges of racism, a judge found Wednesday in a scathing report to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.
Retired Saginaw County Circuit Judge Leopold Borrello said Nettles-Nickerson, an Ingham County circuit judge, engaged in a wide range of misconduct on and off the bench. He presided in an eight-week hearing that ended in November.
Nettles-Nickerson, Ingham County’s first black female judge, only a few years ago was viewed broadly as a pioneer and role model.
Her career has been in a downward spiral since she made allegations of racism against Circuit Court Chief Judge William Collette two years ago. A Michigan Supreme Court-ordered investigation exonerated Collette and led to the probe of Nettles-Nickerson.
Now, she is trying to save her career, and has filed for re-election. That challenge looks more difficult today, after Borrello’s 35-page report to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission upheld charges brought by the JTC on seven of the 10 counts.
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Hearing next
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Phil Thomas, Nettles-Nickerson’s lawyer, said he was pleased Borrello dismissed three of the charges. And he said some of the wording of the report is beneficial to Nettles-Nickerson as she continues her defense before the commission, and possibly, the Supreme Court.
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The charges
While Nettles-Nickerson was cleared on three charges, Borrello’s report came down hard on her on most of the others.
He said she was excessively absent or late—often showing up only on Wednesdays, the day set aside for motions.
He said she used her judicial position to try to bully a gas station owner in Portland in an argument over whether she was charged correctly.
In the most serious charge, she was accused of committing perjury by filing for divorce in Kent County even though she and her husband were both living in Ingham County. The JTC portrayed the action as one of several aimed at keeping the divorce proceeding private.
Nettles-Nickerson claimed her husband was living in Grand Rapids at the time. Borrello didn’t buy that, citing the testimony of her husband, a babysitter, two judges and court officials.
He said she not only committed perjury in the divorce document, but that she also perjured herself in testimony during the Judicial Tenure Commission.
Borrello concluded that Nettles-Nickerson fabricated evidence in submitting a bogus e-mail to the commission regarding her vacation schedule.
{snip}
Borrello concluded that Nettles-Nickerson coerced court staff to move cases prematurely toward dismissal for lack of progress.
And he said that she allowed a social relationship with a court employee to influence her in granting probation to a man who had a relationship with the employee.
On that charge, Borrello also criticized the probation department for withholding information about probation violations from Nettles-Nickerson.
The race factor
Borrello also found that Nettles-Nickerson used race and allegations of racism inappropriately in several instances when her work ethic was called into question. According to the testimony of her law clerk, she once said “I will not hesitate to play the race card.”
“A charge of racism is a bell that cannot be unrung,” Borrello wrote. “Respondent’s (Nettles-Nickerson’s) wanton use of the word has damaged individuals and the judiciary as a whole.”
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Original article
Email
Chris Andrews
at candrews@lsj.com.
(Posted on February 21, 2008)
Comments
Borrello also found that Nettles-Nickerson used race and allegations of racism inappropriately in several instances when her work ethic was called into question. According to the testimony of her law clerk, she once said “I will not hesitate to play the race card.” “A charge of racism is a bell that cannot be unrung,” Borrello wrote. “Respondent’s (Nettles-Nickerson’s) wanton use of the word has damaged individuals and the judiciary as a whole.”
All of this is only true if diversity-loving white people let it be true. The $64 trillion question here is this — Why are white people so gullible?
Posted by St. Louis CofCC Blogmeister at 5:46 PM on February 21
Whites don’t always handle authority well and use it for personal gain and to further their personal agendas, but minorities who are granted authority always and without exception abuse that authority and wield it as a weapon against others in personal vendettas against race and class…
Posted by at 5:56 PM on February 21
Why are white people so gullible?
Posted by St. Louis CofCC Blogmeister at 5:46 PM on February 21
That is not the right question here to ask.
The right question is: Who brainwashed and indoctrinated white people to the point that so many of them are so gullible?
I am affraid that you will have to look for an answer elsewhere.
Posted by A Reader at 6:52 PM on February 21
Here in the N.E., we had a moron like this. Her name was/is Laura Blackburne. All she did was aid and abet an escape of a criminal right out of her courtroom. They didn’t get rid of her on that one, but they finally got her on something else a couple of years later.
Tom Iron…
Posted by Tom Iron... at 6:57 PM on February 21
Now, she is trying to save her career, and has filed for re-election. That challenge looks more difficult today
Not if the electorate is predominantly Black. But should she lose, she can always fall back on a plum law professorship at a major university.
Posted by Doppelgangbanger at 7:22 PM on February 21
One thing is certain - Blacks are nothing if not predictable…
Posted by HH at 7:33 PM on February 21
I suppose we’ll hear her name mentioned a year from now during African History Month for being a courageous, trail-blazing role model for black youts’.
Posted by Annoyed In Illinois at 7:50 PM on February 21
In other words she acted just like ghetto trash, which is quite common among affirmative action blacks who do not earn their accreditation, but are awarded it for showing up, which is the norm among the vast majority who are awarded “gimme” certificates.
I’d like to see a very good investigative reporter scrutinize her entire academic history. I’m pretty sure he would find that she received her degree and law license through AA, plus some kind of hook or crook scheme.
Her actions blaringly announce her dimwittedness.
Posted by w.r. at 9:03 PM on February 21
It seems like a wildly disproportionate number of black judges are corrupt or absolute clowns, making a mockery of the court system:
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2179
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3119381
Posted by at 9:07 PM on February 21
“Now, she is trying to save her career, and has filed for re-election. That challenge looks more difficult today, after Borrello’s 35-page report to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission”
Don’t jump to conclusions, remember how many times marion berry was re-elected?
Posted by at 9:18 PM on February 21
St. Louis CofCC Blogmeister inquired:
“Why are white people so gullible?”
‘A Reader’ responded:
“The right question is: Who brainwashed and indoctrinated white people to the point that so many of them are so gullible?”
The answer to “A Reader’s” question is other white people So we are still left with the original question: Why are white people so gullibe?
Posted by White Patriot at 9:58 PM on February 21
Blacks do what Whites let them. Whites created the race card. Whites created affirmative action. Why is anyone so surprised that blacks use the tools we trained them to use? We managed to get the slaves to pick cotton for 200 years for a lot less incentive.
Posted by Flamethrower at 10:06 PM on February 21
One thing is certain - Blacks are nothing if not predictable…
The truth of this is played out with depressing regularity. It’s difficult for me to imagine a plausible explanation that doesn’t include a strong behavioral genetic component. I have a folder on my hard drive called “racial politics - African”; it’s roughly analogous to AR’s “Blacks in Charge” category. Man is that thing stuffed to the gills with articles (most depicting behavior far more egregious than this one).
Posted by Svigor at 10:32 PM on February 21
The judge “used race and allegations of racism inapproptiately in several instances when her work ethic was called into question.”
As does every other non-white caught goofing off.
Posted by Lothrop Stoddard at 1:39 AM on February 22
Don’t they always play the race card? I doubt that she needed to verbalize this at all. It is taken for granted by most people of any race.
Posted by realist at 3:20 AM on February 22
>>>Suspended Judge Beverley Nettles-Nickerson lied, fabricated evidence, coerced subordinates and made false charges of racism
Which perfectly supports my prior statements that Blacks, even educated ones, are mentally incapable of rising above their race!
Now let’s step back and hear those worthless and weary old excuses… 150 years of slavery and 100 years of post-slavery discrimination! Oh, sorry, I forgot this one: “You’s only pickin’ on her cuz she’s Black.”
Blacks want, demand equality and equal opportunity. But NEVER hold them accountable to the same standards of honesty, performance and ethics as White people are held! Isn’t that right, Judge Beverly?
Posted by Fed Up at 12:58 PM on February 22
Just the tip of the iceberg - wait until President Obama starts appointing his federal judges…
Posted by Legal Eagle at 2:25 PM on February 22
