So, the Free Press reviewed nine years' worth of records to find out which 36th District Court judges have the poorest attendance of sitting judges. Chief judges in Detroit-area courts say judges should work at least 80 percent of the time, about four days a week. That leaves 10 weeks a year for vacation, sick leave and judicial training.
Judges receive full pay during absences.
She worked 56.4 percent of the past nine years. The major in the Army reserves missed 14 months in 1990-91 when called to active duty for Operation Desert Storm and served as a military lawyer at a post in Wisconsin. Court officials wanted her to limit the 1997 maternity leave to a couple of months because she didn't encounter major health problems. But she took six months, prompting complaints from both male and female judges. She didn't have major complications in the earlier maternity leave, either.