Law Clerk Forced To Step Down Because Of Something He Did 30 Years Ago

This is not helping that reoccurring nightmare where, despite passing Character and Fitness, I still get fired over something from ages ago.

Furiously angry judge waves gavel, shouts and points threateningly

I’m not saying this is Justice Richard Bernstein, but I’m also not not saying it.

Less than a week after making history for being Michigan’s first Black female Supreme Court Justice, Justice Bolden is in hot water. And here’s the kicker — it isn’t even for something she did! As it turns out, a clerk that she hired is being taken to task for something he did 30 years ago. From the ABA Journal:

A former inmate convicted for robbing a store and shooting at a police officer has resigned his new job as a law clerk for a Michigan Supreme Court justice.

Pete Martel resigned from his position as a clerk for new Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, who said Martel didn’t want to be a distraction following criticism of his hiring, report the Associated Press and the Detroit News.

Martel had pleaded guilty to armed robbery and assault with intent to do great bodily harm in 1994, according to the Detroit News. He attended the Wayne State University Law School after his release from prison in 2008, according to the AP. He went on to work for the state’s appellate defender office as a mitigation specialist.

Given the little I know about Justice Bolden, her decision to hire Martel as a clerk is on brand. If she has enough belief in redemption narratives to dedicate her life to serving as a judge in a legal system that utterly failed to do justice by her great grandfather after he was lynched, surely giving a second chance to an individual is a lesser act of faith. Here are her own words on the matter:

She explained her hiring decision in an interview with radio station WWJ.

“I don’t think you should be held to crimes for the rest of your life, especially crimes that were committed 30 years ago, and you have done everything possible to transform your life,” Bolden said,

And I think she has a point. Is it really fair for this guy to be defined as an ex-con 30 years after the fact because he shot a police officer? Since when does having a criminal record prevent you from being a force for justice? Here are just a few examples:

Judge David Keenan of the King County (WA) Superior Court is self-described as having been raised on public assistance, arrested in his youth, and a high school drop out who uses his background to work for access to justice. Here’s him supporting a future generation of judging at Judge Patrick Oishi’s swearing-in of Judge Wyman Yip:

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There’s also Shon Hopwood, a former a bank robber who has written cert petitions that were granted review by the Supreme Court, and now teaches at Georgetown. Here’s him giving Martel his support:

The real onus from this resignation is coming from external forces. The first, I’d frame this as the occasion, is one of Justice Bolden’s colleagues. From ABA:

Justice Richard Bernstein had told the Detroit News that he was “all about second chances,” but he didn’t think that Martel should be a clerk on the state supreme court after shooting at a police officer.

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This makes me want to know the answer to two questions, really. The first: which offenses, as a threshold matter, cross the line of irredeemability? The second: how does this impact his judicial philosophy? Then a nominee to the Supreme Court, Justice Jackson was barraged with a line of questions trying to pin down her judicial philosophy, so I think that this line of questioning is precedented and fair game. Do we really want a person who doesn’t believe in the possibility of redemption adjudicating cases?

The second reason for the resignation is what I’d consider to be the context of Martel stepping down — the optics surrounding Justice Bolden’s recent appointment. When Martel said that he “didn’t want his hiring to be a distraction,” I think that what he meant was that he didn’t want to tarnish Justice Bolden’s legacy with his criminal record. And with limited information, the optics on the story can definitely be read in a way that diminishes the character of everyone involved:

Assuming that this is part of the reason he stepped down, it is unfortunate that he has to limit his capacity to do what he feels is right for fear that onlookers would use it as ammo against someone else. I don’t have the data on it, but I’m pretty sure whatever day jobs most of Martel’s critics have aren’t nearly as involved with the levels of justice as being a court clerk.

Maybe one day — and that day might be after we make a shift from a punitive for-profit penal system to one focused on rehabilitation — we’ll have the clerks and judges we deserve.

Ex-con resigns as law clerk at Michigan Supreme Court following criticism [ABA Journal]


Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.