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Tardy Judge Gets 30 Day Suspension Without Pay

DETROIT (AP) - A Wayne County judge who was repeatedly late to work has been suspended without pay for 30 days.

The Michigan Supreme Court last week accepted a settlement between Sheila Gibson and the state Judicial Tenure Commission. In March, the court had rejected a reprimand as too light a punishment.

The Judicial Tenure Commission investigated Gibson after TV station WXYZ tracked her arrival and departure from Family Court during a week in 2012 and found she arrived after 10 a.m. and left between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Parties were waiting in the courtroom.

Gibson's attorney, Brian Einhorn, has said she was late for "family reasons."

The unpaid suspension will start Oct. 8.

Gibson isn't alone when it comes to finding more interesting things to do in the afternoon; According to Michigan Lawyers Weekly Oakland County Circuit Judge Debra Tyner was caught on film by a TV crew who followed her for weeks; leaving the court at lunch time and then shopping, working out and going to spas during court hours in the afternoon. In 2006, Tyner announced she would not seek to fill the judicial seat again.

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