Dems already targeting Young in Supreme Court race

By Kathy Barks Hoffman AP Political Writer LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Two years after Democrats bumped Michigan Supreme Court Justice Cliff Taylor from the court with TV ads accusing him of sleeping on the bench, the party is taking aim at booting another Republican from the court. The accusations of sleeping on the job, which Taylor denied, helped Democrat Diane Hathaway take his seat on the state's high court. And while the state Democratic Party won't nominate its candidates until late August, they party is already going after Justice Robert Young Jr. -- one of two justices nominated in past elections by Republicans who is likely to stand for re-election in November. On Monday, state Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer unveiled a new Web ad that cites several rulings in which he said Young shows "his priorities lie with Big Oil, not with Michigan and its residents." Interspersed with photos of oil-coated birds and cleanup crews is a blurry image of Young or someone who looks like him nodding off on the bench. The ad, which lasts just over a minute, will be seen mostly by Democratic activists on the party's e-mail list, not the general public. But voters statewide likely will see similar issues raised this fall in the party's anti-Young TV ads. "Maybe we do 'Bob Young sleeps with the oil companies.' Kind of combine some themes," Brewer quipped during a Monday news conference. Young was not amused. Even before Brewer's news conference, his campaign released a statement defending his record on the court and accusing Brewer of spreading "misinformation and outright lies." The Democratic ad accurately notes that Young sided with the majority in a 2007 Supreme Court decision that restricted citizens' ability to file lawsuits aimed at protecting the environment. But the suit in question dealt with a water bottling company and didn't directly help "shield oil companies from accountability." The ad also said Young wrote an opinion that would have allowed an oil company to dump waste water in the Au Sable River, but that opinion was moot since the entire Supreme Court left in place a lower court's ban on the dumping. "Mark Brewer may have gotten away with his lies in 2008, but the people are on to him in 2010," the Young campaign statement said. "The people of Michigan don't want a liberal Mark Brewer judge who will coddle criminals, make up their own laws and ignore the rule of law." At stake is the political balance of the court, which was solidly Republican before Taylor's loss. With Hathaway on the bench, three of the Republicans -- Young, Maura Corrigan and Stephen Markman -- find themselves writing dissents rather than majority opinions in many cases, since Republican Justice Elizabeth Weaver sometimes sides with the Democrats. Weaver has such a prickly relationship with her fellow Republicans that they filed a misconduct grievance against her earlier this year. The party in control of the court could decide how lines for congressional and state legislative districts will be redrawn after the 2010 census and before the 2012 elections. Their decision could affect whether Republicans or Democrats have a larger share of safe seats for the next decade and even which member of Congress gets squeezed out if Michigan drops from 15 to 14 U.S. House seats. The Democrats aren't going after Weaver, who may not get renominated by the Republicans now that Young has made it clear he doesn't want to share the ticket with her. She can nominate herself for re-election by filing an incumbent's affidavit by July 5. Both she and Young would be designated as incumbents on the Nov. 2 ballot. If Weaver does nominate herself for a final eight-year term, Republicans at their late August convention could nominate Young for re-election and a second candidate to run against Weaver. Brewer wouldn't say if his party would nominate just one challenger, rather than two, in an effort to knock off Young and leave Weaver on the court. "Whatever strategy is best to take out Bob Young, that's our strategy," he said. Published: Wed, Jun 16, 2010

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