By Joel Thurtell
Wayne County could resolve its problem of incompetence at the highest elected levels.
It would require the help of Timothy Kenny, presiding judge of the Wayne County Circuit Court’s criminal division.
I’m referring to the feud between Prosecutor Kym Worthy and Clerk Cathy Garrett over whose incompetence was greater in bungling the distribution of $4 million in victims’ restitution money.
Worthy blames Garrett.
And Garrett, of course, blames Worthy.
I blame the whole debacle on Kenny, because he has the power, amply demonstrated, to coerce Garrett and Worthy into correcting the problem by jailing both officials for thumbing their noses at a court order.
That is precisely what they did, according to the October 20, 2010 Detroit Free Press, which came close to calling editorially for the prosecution of the officials for “criminal fraud.”
Building a fraud case and bringing Worthy and Garrett to trial would be expensive and could take years.
According to the Free Press editorial, “Someone should go to jail for neglecting to distribute nearly $4 million in court-ordered restitution to crime victims.”
Wayne COunty Executive Robert Ficano is trying to mediate, but has no power over his fellow elected officials.
The key to resolving this mess lies in that phrase, “court-ordered.”
Kenny drew the template for dealing with Worthy and Garrett when he jailed a court reporter because she failed to comply with a court order.
Now, Kenny would like us to believe that his action against the lowly court reporter had nothing to do with any “employer-employee relationship” of his with the 36th District Court reporter. He contends no such boss-worker relationship exists between him and the court reporter.
Right.
And Kenny is not a candidate for re-election to the court, either.
But let’s pretend that the sole reason Kenny jailed the reporter was her failure to comply with a court order.
Well, according to the Detroit Free Press, “someone” in Wayne County government flouted the court’s order to collect and distribute victims’ money.
It had to be either Worthy or Garrett.
Maybe both.
Kenny is top dog over the court’s criminal branch.
Why doesn’t Kenny do what he did to the court reporter? She’s living in the Wayne County Jail now, trying to work up an acceptable transcript for a criminal trial.
If it’s fair to jail a lowly court reporter for failing to do her job and ignoring a court order, why not treat Worthy and Garrett the same?
Place the pair of them in a jail cell together and have them work out a way to distribute money to victims in a way that meets court requirements.
Oh, by the way, Judge Kenny IS running for re-election, and his contention that he has no “employer-employee” connection to the reporter is election-season hair-splitting.
The judge has no “employer-employee” relationship with the clerk and prosecutor, either, but he could show them who’s boss by holding them in contempt.
Drop me a line at joelthurtell@gmail.com
