Runestad demands conduct review after justice accepted large donation from SOS before major ruling

Runestad demands conduct review after justice accepted large donation from SOS before major ruling

LANSING, MISen. Jim Runestad on Tuesday sent a letter to Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Elizabeth T. Clement requesting she review Justice Kyra Harris Bolden’s acceptance of a large campaign donation from a PAC directed by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson while she had a case pending before the high court.

The letter asks Clement to determine whether Bolden violated the Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct by accepting an $82,500 contribution to her reelection campaign from a PAC controlled by Benson and then, just months later, ruling in the secretary of state’s favor in O’Halloran v. Benson.

“This is a simple request — the timeline here isn’t adding up,” said Runestad, R-White Lake, “No supreme court justice should put themselves in a position to appear to have acted with impropriety. Justice Bolden should have either not accepted the donation or should have recused herself from the case.”

In his letter, Runestad highlights Canon 2 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which specifies that “a judge should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities.”

In addition to being the tie-breaking vote in the slim 4-3 majority ruling that decided O’Halloran v. Benson, Bolden also authored the majority opinion of the court.

 

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