Recently, the Editorial Staff of the Traverse City Record-Eagle newspaper wrote about Grand Traverse County Probate Judge David Stowe. They opined that Judge Stowe’s questionable personal decisions should cost him his job. “Stowe’s term expires this year and he immediately should announce his retirement at term’s end, if not sooner,” they editorialize.
Soon after becoming a judge, Stowe presided over the child custody matters of a woman named Cynthia Curry while she was divorcing her third husband. Judge Stowe then hired Curry to work for him in the family court and later the two began a physical relationship. Stowe continued to oversee the custody case while all this was occurring, which the Editorial Staff argues clearly violates judicial ethics rules. When Curry left the court job for a local social services agency job, suddenly the amount of money paid from the county to that agency doubled. When an attorney reported his suspicions of ethical violations, the attorney was fired and later given a settlement to avoid a whistleblower lawsuit.
Judge Stowe and Cynthia Curry married in 2009. Then, in January of 2012, police were called to their home. Cynthia Curry was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault of Stowe after a night of heavy drinking. Stowe was uncooperative with police, presumably knowing that any involvement could cost him his job. Allegedly, Stowe wanted to leave the premises before police arrived, even with Curry’s teenage son begging him to stay.
As experienced attorneys, we know the importance of having judges on the bench who understand and respect the law. Because our firm practices all across the Lower Peninsula of Michigan—and has been doing so for many years—we have argued in front of many judges. The majority of judges we come across are fair and impartial, but some judges abuse their power. What do you think of the allegations against Judge Stowe? Do you think they should cost him his job?
