BY RICK PLUTA
Michigan Public Radio Network
Embattled state Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway has agreed to resign effective January 21st.
That news broke shortly after a disciplinary panel filed a six-count ethics complaint against her.
Justice Hathaway's attorneys called the ethics complaint gratuitous and unnecessary because she had already agreed last month to resign. She also agreed not to participate in any cases. The Judicial Tenure Commission had also asked the Supreme Court to suspend Hathaway, which would have been an unprecedented disciplinary action against a sitting justice.
The complaint accuses Hathaway of real estate fraud and money laundering, as well as lying about the episode to the disciplinary panel. She still faces a federal civil lawsuit in the matter.
Hathaway is a Democrat elected to the court in 2008. Republican Governor Rick Snyder gets to name her replacement.
Copyright 2012, MPRN