On July 29, 2022, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a Decision and Recommendation in the Supreme Court of Michigan regarding the judicial misconduct case of Tracy E. Green, Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Michigan. The case is styled as ‘In the Matter of Judge Tracy Green’ with case number #103.

The allegations include violations of Michigan Court Rules 9.104(1), 9.104(2), 9.104(3), 9.202(B), Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct, including Rule 8.4(b) and Rule 8.4(c), and Canon 2(A) and Canon 2(B) of the Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct.

These ethics rules generally require:

A lawyer should not engage in conduct prejudicial to the proper administration of justice.

A lawyer should not engage in conduct that exposes the legal profession or the courts to obloquy, contempt, censure, or reproach.

A lawyer should not engage in conduct that is contrary to justice, ethics, honesty, or good morals.

Prohibits a lawyer from conduct involving dishonesty, deceit, or misrepresentation, where
such conduct reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer.

A judge should avoid all impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.

A judge should act in a way that promotes confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.

The recommendation for discipline states:

“On November 10, 2020, the Judicial Tenure Commission (the “Commission”) filed Formal Complaint (the “Original FC”) 103. The Original FC alleged Respondent committed these violations as a practicing attorney in Michigan and after she became a Wayne County Circuit Court judge.”

The filing continues:

“Count I charged that Respondent covered up evidence of child abuse committed by Respondent’s son against Respondent’s grandchildren (her son’s children, two young boys). Count II charged that Respondent made false statements as a judge under oath at a juvenile court hearing (the “Juvenile Court”) while testifying as a witness on behalf of her son, and to the Commission in these proceedings in her responses to the Commission’s requests for comment issued September 17, 2019, and October 30, 2019, about her knowledge of her son’s child abuse against Respondent’s grandchildren. Count III, as added by amendment to the FC, charged that Respondent made knowingly false statements to the Commission in her Answer which she signed under penalty of perjury.”

The filing further states:

“The Commission unanimously concludes that disciplinary counsel has established by a preponderance of the evidence that Respondent committed misconduct by concealing her knowledge and evidence of the physical abuse her son was inflicting on her grandchildren while she was an attorney, and by making knowingly false statements under oath as a judge to the Juvenile Court in testifying regarding the abuse of her grandchildren, to the Commission’s investigators in responding to its written investigative questions, and to the Master in falsely testifying under oath at the Hearing.

The filing additionally notes:

“On the basis of her judicial misconduct, the Commission unanimously recommends that Respondent be removed from office. Respondent’s misconduct is comparable to, or worse than, the misconduct that caused the Supreme Court to remove other judges.”

The Judge is in Courtroom 604, 1441 St. Antoine in Detroit, and can be reached at 313-224-2441.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.