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Judge Joseph D. Slaven (Court photo)
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a complaint Wednesday accusing Taylor 23rd District Court Judge Joseph D. Slaven of unprofessional behavior, of making denigrating public remarks about the chief judge and courthouse staff, and of using his courtroom to campaign for a friend running for judge.
The 14-page complaint also alleges that Judge Slaven secretly recorded several conversations in the fall of 2021 and 2022 with the new Chief Judge, Victoria Shackelford. When she asked him the first time if he was recording the conversation on Nov. 5, 2021, he lied and denied it, the complaint alleges.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that Judge Slaven made false statements to the commission's staff when asked about certain allegations that were ultimately contained in the complaint.
Now, the Michigan Supreme Court will appoint a master who will conduct a hearing. The record of the hearing, along with the master's proposed findings will go to the commission, which will make a recommendation to the Supreme Court, which might be anything from censure to suspension to removal from the bench. The commission could also recommend no action. The Supreme Court will make the ultimate decision.
The complaint alleges that in April 2022, Shackelford was a candidate for a judicial position at the Taylor 23rd District Court, and that a number of court employees were supporting her. In a Facebook post, Judge Slaven referred to the employees by their initials, saying, “They are simple-minded buffoons!!” and “Shame on them.” He then wrote that those people “lie” and “twist things.”
On Oct. 11, 2023, during a livestream Zoom hearing, Slaven complained that show cause hearings had been added to his docket without his permission. He then said the court administrator “thinks she can make my docket better than I can. Good luck with that. She can't even do her goddamn job.”
In another instance, on Nov. 20, 2023, during a livestream Zoom hearing, Judge Slaven said, referring to Judge Shackelford, “I'm sorry that you can't handle your docket. I'm sorry you don't know the law. I'm sorry the court rules seem to be somewhat of a foreign language. The public needs to know that people who are in certain positions are not competent.”
The complaint also alleges that during a Law Day celebration at the courthouse in April 2022, Judge Slaven displayed a sign in his courtroom that read “TINNEY,” which was the name of a friend, Michael Tinney, who was a candidate for the 23rd District Court.
The following year, Tinney was considering running again. On Oct. 11, 2023, during a break in a livestream Zoom court session, Judge Slaven started talking up Tinney for all to hear. Then, on other occasions, he managed to bring up Tinney's name in court.
Additionally, on Sept. 21, 2024, the complaint alleges that the judge used courthouse resources to print 160 copies of a document titled “Mike Tinney is a Man of the People.”
According to his court bio, Judge Slaven graduated in 1994 from the University of Michigan with dual bachelor's degrees and graduated from the University of Detroit School of Law. He first took the bench on January 1, 2015.
The judge could not be reached late Wednesday for comment. The court closes at 4 p.m. On Thursday morning, Deadline Detroit left a voicemail message with the judge's assistant.
