Admin no. - 2007-13
Issued - 8-25-09
Effective - 9-1-09
Added a new subsection (b) and shifted the remaining paragraphs down:
(b) Appearance of Parties and Witnesses. The court shall exercise reasonable control over the appearance of parties and witnesses so as to (1) ensure that the demeanor of such persons may be observed and assessed by the fact-finder, and (2) to ensure the accurate identification of such persons.The staff comment includes:
The proposal was suggested in response to a case in which a district judge was sued for dismissing a plaintiff’s case following the plaintiff’s refusal to remove her hijab during testimony. The plaintiff subsequently sued the district judge in federal court, alleging a violation under 42 USC 1983 (Muhammad v Paruk, 553 F Supp 2d 893 [ED Mich, 2008]). The federal court declined to exercise jurisdiction and dismissed the case, which has since been appealed. In declining to exercise jurisdiction, the federal court noted that state court review “would have avoided many of the federalism concerns” cited by the court, which prompted consideration of this proposal by the Michigan Supreme Court.Since the proposed rule affects procedure, not evidence, it probably does not belong in the Rules of Evidence.
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