SENATOR DAVID JAYE POSTS:
On June 12, 2000, Senator David Jaye pleaded guilty to a drunk driving offense [March 2000]. On June 20, the Senate stripped Jaye of his committee assignments . He was also barred from state-paid business travel that would take him out of state, until next year. Senator Jaye's assignments were restored to him on March 27, 2001 after he completed an alcohol rehab program. Less than three weeks later, Jaye was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend [April 12, 2001].
Taking on an easy target is no real leadership
June 29, 2000
Record-Eagle
Toward the end of the latest legislative session, the leader of the Senate determined that a fellow senator had so embarrassed their institution that he had to be disciplined.
Sen. Dan DeGrow, the leader, stripped Sen. David Jaye, the embarrassment, of his committee assignments. That left Jaye with the ability to vote, thus representing his constituents, but without any real power.
DeGrow took this action because Jaye had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, second-offense operating under the influence of alcohol. "The Senate needed to take action," DeGrow said, adding that the decision was his alone.
Jaye, a 42-year-old Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, has embarrassed the Senate before. He is the one you can count on to have the most extreme position on almost any bill and to make sure that everyone knows how he feels about things.
If there is an issue on which everybody can agree, it is that drunken driving is not good. The liquor companies discourage it; the laws prohibit it; the editorial writers condemn it without fear of getting a letter in rebuttal.
So it should come as no surprise that the senate leader also is appalled at the action of one of his colleagues. The question remains, however, if what he did was fair or wise or even useful.
Jaye, after all, is paying the price that others pay when they run afoul of the law. He will lose time and money; he could lose his license; he may even end up in jail.
Some people lose their jobs after a drunk driving conviction, but most do not. Most employers, especially those who consider themselves somewhat enlightened, understand that alcoholism is a condition best treated with treatment. If the courts handle the punishment, which they appear to be doing in Jaye's case, then the job of the employer is not to add to the punishment but to do something to prevent it from happening again.
The Senate, in this case, is not even Jaye's employer. He is employed by his constituents and they, for reasons it has been hard to understand, have consistently given him the job he wants in Lansing.
There appear to be no rules guiding the leader's decision. He just felt that he had to do something, so he did it. But that's not fair to voters, who never were told that they might be throwing away their vote if their candidate somehow crossed an ethical line that nobody had yet drawn.
And if DeGrow or other legislative leaders really want to do something about embarrassing behavior, they can expand their horizons into areas that are not already being punished by another branch of government.
They could go after the legislators who waste our time and money proposing bills to name the official state this and the official state that. Nobody needs them, nobody wants to waste the time and money. They can go after the intransigents who hold up all of the state's business just so they can lobby for a particular favorite cause. It happened with the telecommunications bill and DeGrow declined to strip that committee chairman of his powers, powers that clearly he was abusing to the detriment of everybody in the state.
Leaders should operate under clear rules, not make them up as they go along. They should apply the rules fairly with an eye toward setting a consistent standard. Slapping a drunk driver is easy. Taking on the more damaging excesses in the Legislature is the real test of leadership.
Police: Jaye stopped after assault report
A witness at a gas station said he saw the state senator slap and kick his girlfriend, a police report says. Jaye was soon pulled over on Int. 75.
Grand Rapids Press, The (MI)
December 20, 2000
BAY CITY -- State troopers "had reason to believe that a life-threatening felony was being committed" by Sen. David Jaye and his brother Joseph when they detained the men on Int. 75 Nov. 19, according to a police report.
A man pumping gas at a service station told police that he saw a man -- later identified as Jaye -- slap and kick a woman before pushing her into his vehicle and speeding off, said the report.
Bay County officials filed an arrest warrant for Jaye, R-Washington Township, on Dec. 12, charging him with violating restrictions placed on his driver's license. The restrictions were from previous drunken driving convictions.
"Based on all the information provided to me, I do not believe that any other charge could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt," Bay County Prosecutor Joseph K. Sheeran said this morning.
Michigan State Police this morning provided a copy of the police report on the incident to The Bay City Times, which filed a Freedom of Information Act request for it on Monday.
The names and phone numbers of the witness who called police and the alleged victim were blocked out.
According to the report, a customer at the Mobil gas station at Int. 75 and Beaver Road in Monitor Township called police at 6:08 p.m. on Nov. 19, a Sunday.
The caller told police he had observed a man beat a woman before throwing her into his red Plymouth Sundance and heading south on the highway.
Once troopers pulled his vehicle over, Jaye told police that the woman -- whom he claimed was his fiancée -- had been taking too long in the women's rest room. He said he was returning to his Macomb County home after deer hunting and needed to get to the airport.
Jaye said he yelled at the woman and ordered her into the car, but that he didn't touch her.
The woman said she had been in the men's rest room at the gas station with two men and attempted to stand on the toilet seat and hide when Jaye entered the rest room.
Jaye became jealous when he saw her boots underneath a stall door, the woman said. She denied that he had physically assaulted her and stated that she just wanted to leave.
Troopers searched Jaye's 1989 vehicle with his consent, according to the report. They advised Jaye to place two long guns that were in the passenger compartment into his trunk.
"Due to the lack of cooperation by all parties involved, they were released," the trooper wrote.
The report says that Jaye told them he was on his way home from deer camp. When told that was a violation of his license restrictions, "Jaye stated that he was not in violation and that he had given a speech at Turtle Lake," a Montmorency County resort.
But Jaye produced no proof of being at Turtle Lake or of giving a speech, according to police.
Attorney Robert Huth Jr. said this morning that Jaye "has not done anything improper with respect to his driving," and that he had a sworn statement from organizers of the hunting meeting where Jaye spoke.
As far as the other allegations, Huth said, "I'm inclined to think that if there's any merit to it there would have been charges brought."
Jaye has waived arraignment and Huth said he expects his client to be found innocent or to have the case dismissed.
While a state representative in 1993, Jaye spent 10 days in jail after a drunken-driving conviction. Jaye was arrested March 5 in Macomb Township on his second drunken-driving offense. He was sentenced to 45 days but was released after 35 days in the St. Clair County Jail after being given time off for good behavior.
His restricted driver's license allowed him to drive only for work-related travel, medical and counseling appointments and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Warrant issued for Jaye
Grand Rapids Press, The (MI)
December 19, 2000
BAY CITY -- Bay County officials have issued an arrest warrant for state Sen. David Jaye that accuses him of violating his restricted drivers license to go deer hunting.
Jaye has had a restricted license since pleading guilty June 12 to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge. Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, now can drive only to work, medical visits and counseling sessions.
On Nov. 19, Michigan State Police pulled over a vehicle driven by Jaye on Int. 75, Bay County Prosecutor Joseph K. Sheeran said. Jaye told police he was returning home from a northern deer camp.
Jaye told The Associated Press on Monday that he was driving back from a legislative meeting.
Jaye, 42, faces up to 90 days in jail and a $100 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor charge.
Charges dropped against Jaye
Grand Rapids Press
March 22, 2001
LANSING -- Sen. David Jaye was cleared Wednesday of charges he was driving on a restricted license, a day before the case was scheduled for trial.
The charges stemmed from a Nov. 19 Bay County traffic stop. County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said he had to dismiss the charges after 74th District Judge Scott Newcombe ruled Jaye's statements couldn't be used because state police didn't read his Miranda rights at the scene.
Jaye said Wednesday that the charges were "baseless" and suggested they were meant to persecute him for his pro-gun activities. Jaye pointed out that Sheeran had testified against one of Jaye's gun bills in a legislative hearing.
"(Sheeran) apparently saw the situation as an opportunity to improperly persecute and embarrass me," Jaye said. "Fortunately, Judge Newcombe of Bay County... does not let politics interfere with justice."
Sheeran said that wasn't his intent. "It would be very wrong for any prosecutor to prosecute someone for their beliefs. That's not the case here," Sheeran said. "I frankly think if he's embarrassed, it's more of a result of his own actions."
Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, had a restricted license after pleading guilty to drunken driving on June 12, 2000. The license allowed him to drive only to work, counseling or medical appointments.
On Nov. 19, state police in Bay County pulled Jaye over after a witness called to report that he was hitting and kicking a woman at a gas station. Jaye and his girlfriend, Sonia Kloss, said they had a fight, but no assault charges were ever filed.
Sen. Jaye will not face traffic charges
Arresting officer did not inform lawmaker of Miranda Rights
Detroit News
March 22, 2001
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- State Sen. David Jaye, known as much for his run-ins with the law as his controversial viewpoints, is off the hook after his latest encounter with police.
Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran on Wednesday dropped charges against the Washington Township senator for driving on a restricted license because a state trooper failed to read Jaye his Miranda rights last November.
Sheeran said without statements Jaye made to police -- which a Bay County District Court judge suppressed last week -- the case couldn't proceed. A trial was scheduled to start today.
"Without this evidence, I would not be able to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt," Sheeran said.
Jaye was convicted March 5, 2000, of drunken driving. It was his second offense, and he served 35 days in jail. In 1993, he was jailed for 10 days for a similar offense.
His license was restricted last June, limiting him to driving between home and work, treatment or support group meetings and community service and school.
The 42-year-old Republican maintains he was on state business when he was stopped in November in Monitor Township near Bay City after a motorist notified police about a man kicking and slapping a woman at a nearby rest stop. Police pulled over Jaye, who was then handcuffed and questioned for 40 minutes.
Jaye's fiancee has denied being assaulted. Attorney Rob Huth said Jaye was on his way back from official business at the Turtle Creek Hunt Club in northern Michigan.
Jaye, a gun advocate, blamed Sheeran's anti-gun politics for his arrest.
"He apparently saw the situation as an opportunity to improperly persecute and embarrass me, and filed baseless charges for driving outside of the former restrictions permitted on my driver's license," Jaye said Wednesday.
Said Sheeran: "I'm a fair prosecutor that makes decision based on the facts of the law," Sheeran said.
Senator Jaye Gets Assignments Restored
Republican Stripped Of Duties After Pleading Guilty To Drunken Driving
March 27, 2001
Click On Detroit
State Sen. David Jaye had his committee assignments restored Tuesday after completing an alcohol rehabilitation program.
Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, Mich., was stripped of his Senate duties in June after pleading guilty to drunken driving. .He was charged with driving on a restricted license six months later, but was cleared of those charges last week
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow restored Jaye as Chairman of the Senate Hunting, Fishing and Forestry Committee.
Jaye will also return to his membership on the Economic Development, International Trade and Regulatory Affairs Committee, the Families, Mental Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Financial Services Committee.
Neither DeGrow nor Jaye commented on the restored positions.
Sen. Jaye back in key committee positions
He gets them back after he completes an alcohol rehabilitation program
Grand Rapids Press
March 29, 2001
LANSING -- State Sen. David Jaye, who was stripped of his Senate duties after pleading guilty to drunken driving, had his committee assignments and other privileges restored Tuesday after completing an alcohol rehabilitation program.
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, restored Jaye as chairman of the Senate Hunting, Fishing and Forestry Committee.
Jaye also was returned to membership on the Economic Development, International Trade and Regulatory Affairs Committee, the Families, Mental Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Financial Services Committee.
DeGrow made no comment in reassigning Jaye, and Jaye declined comment on his restored positions.
Jaye, R-Washington Township, lost his committee assignments and travel privileges in June, a week after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge.
Six months later, Jaye was charged with driving on a restricted license, but he was cleared of those charges last week.
Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said he had to dismiss the charges after a judge ruled that Jaye's statements couldn't be used because state police didn't read his Miranda rights at the scene.
DeGrow said he had little choice but to reinstate Jaye's committee memberships after Jaye was cleared of violating the license restrictions.
