It’s official: Michigan’s judicial system isn’t just broken; it’s an uncontrollable, raging dumpster fire.
It’s the kind that’s been burning for years behind courthouse walls while those in power pretended not to smell the smoke. Now, with a full-blown FBI investigation into a sitting Detroit judge and her father, the flames are getting harder to ignore.
Detroit’s 36th District Judge Andrea Bradley-Baskin is the latest name scorched by scandal. Alongside her father, high-profile attorney Avery Bradley, she’s under federal investigation for alleged public corruption, wire fraud, and the gross exploitation of vulnerable guardianship clients.
I for one, would like to know the criteria necessary for investigating officials for public corruption, because boy do I have a long running list for the FBI.
The Scandal: Frozen Funds, Fraud, and Family Ties
According to Michigan News Source, over $580,000 in assets (including homes, bank accounts, and more) linked to the Bradleys have been frozen by federal authorities. The alleged scheme?
Using court-appointed guardianships as personal cash machines, draining resources from seniors and people with disabilities.
They certainly would not be the first, as this is an issue stretching across multiple types of guardianships, including family court.
The investigation stretches all the way back to 2016 and spans her time as legal counsel before she ever took the bench. Her judicial position didn’t stop the rot: it found a way to institutionalize it.
Even worse: clients who relied on those funds can’t access money now frozen in the investigation. The very people the courts are meant to protect have been hung out to dry. But unfortunately, that’s just how most courts operate anyway.
This Isn’t New. This Is the Culture.
Let’s not pretend this is an isolated dumpster. This is one in a chorus of raging trash cans.
Michigan’s judiciary is rife with backdoor deals, family patronage in appointments, sealed complaints, and slap-on-the-wrist consequences, so naturally what do you get?
A judiciary where misconduct doesn’t get extinguished; it gets promoted.
Tired of judges getting away with bad behavior? Report Michigan Judicial Misconduct here. It’s fast, free, and ensures accountability and transparency.
Why This Dumpster Fire Matters
Judges have long been treating the courtroom like a cash register; the only difference here is the revenue is going to the judge rather than the county.
The entire justice system is corrupt to the core.
How to Put the Fire Out
Michigan needs so much work right now.
- Let’s Start with the EASIEST: Revamp FOIA. Allow Judges to be subject to FOIA since they cannot help themselves and they need supervision. Consider Marge Bakker who sends ex parte emails; her emails should absolutely be monitored to make sure she’s not prejudicing anyone else’s cases. Also, Judge Bradley-Baskin could not likely have orchestrated most of this scheme without cover of private emails. Clearly they can’t handle it, and now it needs to be taken away.
- Emergency Judicial Oversight. Statewide audits and an independent watchdog with full subpoena power to review all active and past cases. Schipper, Hartig, Slaven, Bakker… there is more that is wrong than right.
- Real Disciplinary Authority. Give the Judicial Tenure Commission the power to suspend, refer for prosecution, and report it publicly in real-time. Shoot, give me a FRACTION of their budget and I’ll do it.
- Public Access to Complaints. No more sealed records protecting serial abusers in robes. If the public can’t track judicial misconduct, then Judges shouldn’t be working.
- Financial Transparency from Day One. Mandatory disclosure of all outside income, family partnerships, and past ethical violations for sitting judges and nominees.
You Can’t Reform What You Refuse to Admit Is Broken
Right now, Michigan’s judiciary operates like a closed club. Complaints disappear. Oversight is absolutely meaningless because judges who cross the line rarely lose their robes. They get to retire off into the warm glow of their dumpster fire.
This inferno will never burn out on its own. The system needs a hose, a shovel and slew of mass firings to make it stop.
