Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Oakland County judge tosses people in jail for showing up late, even amid pandemic
Twice in March in the same week, the same judge in suburban Detroit jailed defendants simply for being late to his courtroom.
Both times, Oakland County Circuit Judge Leo Bowman ignored the risks that the defendants could contaminate the county jail with disease or become contaminated themselves, their lawyers said in written objections.
In one case, Bowman read aloud his order requiring immediate jail for a tardy real-estate developer, even as the sickly 61-year-old man — who’d just come from an urgent care clinic — vomited into a courtroom wastebasket, his lawyers have said in legal documents.
In a second case, the judge immediately jailed a young mother who was 20 minutes late because her bus had been delayed, then refused to release her in mid-March, just as state officials were saying that virtually all non-violent inmates should be released to avoid spreading COVID-19 inside county jails.
...
In the earlier case, the Free Press published a story on March 10 about a real-estate developer who was six hours late for a court hearing in a civil case because he was being treated that day for contagious pneumonia. Although developer Howard Baum was told by a doctor to avoid contact with others, Bowman insisted that Baum appear in court, sentencing him to five days in jail for being late — even as the 61-year-old man vomited into a wastebasket under the defense table, his lawyer Arthur Weiss said.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2020/04/02/oakland-county-judge-leo-bowman-jail/5101562002/
Both times, Oakland County Circuit Judge Leo Bowman ignored the risks that the defendants could contaminate the county jail with disease or become contaminated themselves, their lawyers said in written objections.
In one case, Bowman read aloud his order requiring immediate jail for a tardy real-estate developer, even as the sickly 61-year-old man — who’d just come from an urgent care clinic — vomited into a courtroom wastebasket, his lawyers have said in legal documents.
In a second case, the judge immediately jailed a young mother who was 20 minutes late because her bus had been delayed, then refused to release her in mid-March, just as state officials were saying that virtually all non-violent inmates should be released to avoid spreading COVID-19 inside county jails.
...
In the earlier case, the Free Press published a story on March 10 about a real-estate developer who was six hours late for a court hearing in a civil case because he was being treated that day for contagious pneumonia. Although developer Howard Baum was told by a doctor to avoid contact with others, Bowman insisted that Baum appear in court, sentencing him to five days in jail for being late — even as the 61-year-old man vomited into a wastebasket under the defense table, his lawyer Arthur Weiss said.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2020/04/02/oakland-county-judge-leo-bowman-jail/5101562002/
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
