Judge May Face Contempt Charge

DETROIT (AP) - Deposed Detroit Recorder's Court Judge Geraldine Ford faces a possible contempt of court citation if she continues to defy the state Supreme Court order that demoted her.
"She has no right to defy an order of the Supreme Court even if the order is wrong", T. John Lesinski, special court administrator, said Friday.
Judge Ford earlier this week was ordered moved to the Common Pleas Court as punishment for her refusal to participate in a crash program to clear a backlog in Recorder's Court.
As of Friday she had not shown up for her new assignment.
Lesinski said he might request the contempt action Monday. "We've been more than patient," he said.
But Chief Justice Thomas Kavanagh of the high court said he thinks the problem can be resolved without contempt action, which could result in a fine or jail sentence.
"I don't know that that (contempt charge) will be necessary," Kavanagh said. "I have great confidence in her that she will try to work this out."
Lesinski has criticized Mrs. Ford for handling less than her share of cases in the last year. The six-month demotion was ordered after she balked at an earlier plan to take away her Recorder's Court staff and limit her to trial work.
The flap has sparked protests in her behalf by a number of groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The protests continued Friday, when about 35 picketers organized by Young Democrats of Detroit marched around the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.