After StateBarWatch founder Frank Lawrence served Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission Executive Director Paul Fischer with a federal subpoena for records, he refused to comply, citing state-created confidentiality rules.  

Eventually, in January 2004, Paul Fisher was ordered to turn over the records, as the federal district court held "[S]uch confidentiality cannot impede the legitimate needs of the judicial truth-seeking process" Click here to see the court's opinion.   

Paul Fischer then appealed the above order and he, again, lost. This time, however, the Court's decision resulted in a published opinion.  Lawrence v. Van Aken, 316 F.Supp.2d 547 (W.D. Mich. 2004).  (Click here to see the opinion)

After the second federal court order directing the Judicial Tenure Commission to turn over the records, Paul Fischer still refused to comply.  StateBarWatch founder Frank Lawrence then threatened to request Court assistance to have federal agents forcibly remove the records from the Commission's Detroit office. 

THE EMPTY SAFE  - On May 3, 2004, JTC Executive Director Paul Fischer faxed over an affidavit indicating that no records exist that fall within the scope of the subpoena.  (Click here to see this troubling document)

If Paul Fischer's Affidavit really is true, then why did he require two federal court opinions to be issued (one of them published), only to then state that none of the requested records exist?  Why create this work for the federal judiciary?  Who guards an empty safe?

If you have information about JTC Executive Director Paul Fischer, please contact StateBarWatch by clicking here.