Lori Shemka
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lorishemka.bsky.social
Lori Shemka
@lorishemka.bsky.social
270 followers 570 following 610 posts
Curiosity, care, and courts.

Accepting ownership is accountability. Endless excuses are the alternative.
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lorishemka.bsky.social
For those following Michigan’s court-costs assessment law, the Michigan Supreme Court has ordered oral argument on the question as the Legislature reviews the recent report and recommendations submitted to it by the Michigan Judicial Council.
November 20, 2025 at 10:57 AM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Yikes! Can you imagine finding this in your driveway?
November 17, 2025 at 12:15 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Zoom court reminder:

Calling the judge a f****** c*** at the hearing’s end, while the feed is still on in the court and streaming in the jail, is still contempt of court—even though your screen is black. And even if you’ve been practicing law for 40 years+

www.courts.michigan.gov/siteassets/c...
The trial court instructed the court clerk to place that arraignment and Bennett’s three pending cases on the docket for that day, but was unsure of the date. The court clerk advised the date was June 13, 2024. The following occurred on the record: The Court: June 13, okay, I’ll see everyone then, thank you. The Clerk: Thank you. [Appellant]: Judge - - thank you. F****** c***. (Court in recess at 10:21 a.m.) On June 5, 2024, the trial court issued an order to show cause, which read: This matter comes before the Court on the Court’s own motion. The Court finds that [appellant - Marshall S. Tauber (P34547)] directed obscene language to the Court thereby engaging in a willful disregard of the authority of the Court. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that [appellant] is to appear on WEDNESDAY, June 12, 2024, at 1:30 PM at Oakland County Sixth Circuit Court, 1200 North Telegraph Road, Pontiac Michigan 48341 – Courtroom 1B, to show cause why he should not be found in direct criminal contempt of court for his conduct pursuant to MCL 600.1701(a). An arraignment on the charge and/or pretrial may be conducted in lieu of the hearing. Failure to appear for a contempt hearing may result in a bench warrant being issued for arrest.
November 6, 2025 at 11:55 AM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Among the Michigan Supreme Court’s 10/31/25 orders, there is an interesting statement by Justice Thomas about the merits of considering evidentiary principles to officer testimony narrating or interpreting videos when the officer did not have personal knowledge of the narrated events.
November 1, 2025 at 10:12 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
For Michigan criminal legal eagles: Whether court-ordered repayment for indigent defense is constitutional, and whether an ability to pay hearing is necessary, are questions the
Michigan Supreme Court has recently ordered briefing & argument on.

Docket link: www.courts.michigan.gov/c/courts/coa...
By order of April 4, 2025, the plaintiff was directed to answer the application for leave to appeal the November 18, 2024 judgment of the Court of Appeals. On order of the Court, the answer having been received, the application for leave to appeal is again considered. We direct the Clerk to schedule oral argument on the application. MCR 7.305(I)(1). The parties shall file supplemental briefs in accordance with MCR 7.312(E) and shall include among the issues to be briefed: (1) whether MCL 769.1k(1)(b)(iv)’s provision that a trial court may impose “the expenses of providing legal assistance to the defendant” violates Const 1963, art 8, § 9; (2) whether attorney fees can be assessed against an indigent criminal defendant, see the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Act, MCL 780.981 et seq.; (3) if so, whether the trial court must first hold an evidentiary hearing to assess the fee in light of the defendant’s ability to pay, see Const 1963, art 1, § 16; US Const, art VIII; and (4) whether the trial court in this case made adequate factual findings to support the fees imposed, see People v Lewis, 503 Mich 162, 163, 168 (2018). The Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan and the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan are invited to file briefs amicus curiae. Other persons or groups interested in the determination of the issues presented in this case who are not exempt from the motion requirement under MCR 7.312(H) may move the Court for permission to file briefs amicus curiae.
November 1, 2025 at 10:02 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Who knew that Judge Jones would inspire a new form of appellate advocacy?
During a panel discussion, Judge Edith Jones held up a manila folder that she claimed was full of blog posts, tweets, amicus briefs, and other writings of Steve Vladeck that she took issue with.
October 4, 2025 at 9:42 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
If there's a MI gov't shutdown after midnight tonight, and until further MI Supreme Court order, filing deadlines for the MSC, COA, and Court of Claims may be extended.

Does NOT include statutory deadlines for filing a notice of intent or a complaint in the Court of Claims.
Administrative Order No. 2025-2 – Appellate Courts and Court of Claims Operations During Government Shutdown Until further order of the Court, if a government shutdown occurs, filing deadlines in the Michigan Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Court of Claims will be extended by the same number of days as the government is shut down. For purposes of this order, “filing deadlines” in the Court of Claims do not include statutory deadlines for filing a notice of intent or a complaint. The extension of filing deadlines applies to any document required to be filed with the court in order to preserve or facilitate a case or an appeal. If the government shutdown ends before the business day begins, that business day is not considered a shutdown day. The business day in these courts is Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
September 30, 2025 at 4:55 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
In a published op, the MI COA reverses aggravated-stalking & computer-crime convictions tied to probation-related texting to PO. Court applies a role-specific “reasonable person” lens (probation agent) & finds no significant emotional distress on these facts. Predicate fails → computer-crime falls.
Highlighted excerpts from court opinion: Defendant’s texts largely pertained to his employment, housing, a probation monitoring fee, suspected criminal activity that he witnessed, and someone posting information about him on social media. the communications in question did not contain inappropriate or disturbing language, arise in the aftermath of domestic violence, violate a PPO, or follow a lengthy period of harassment. none of defendant’s messages were threatening. defendant’s text messages were all sent to Myers’s work-issued cell phone, he did not physically approach or follow her, and he did not contact her on a personal device or over social media. Nor do we think that the sheer number, frequency, and length of defendant’s messages would cause a reasonable person in Myers’s position “significant mental suffering or distress” under MCL 750.411i(1)(c). Although defendant did send Myers a large number of lengthy text messages, under the circumstances we are unpersuaded that this is sufficient to sustain defendant’s conviction. all of the texts defendant sent to Myers were related to her supervision of defendant and lasted only a few days, from April 22 until April 26. On April 26, Myers met with Chitwood, it was decided that Myers would block defendant’s number and defendant’s supervision would be transferred to another probation agent, and the contacts ended at that time.
September 30, 2025 at 11:13 AM
lorishemka.bsky.social
@carlcecere.bsky.social, if you prompt the same question to Perplexity, the response includes “dicta” you might get a chuckle from. 🚵‍♂️🚴🚵‍♀️
Separately, terms like “monkey butt” refer to a common condition among athletes—especially cyclists and runners—describing skin chafing, redness, or rash on the buttocks caused by sweat and friction during prolonged activity. This non-offensive meaning is entirely unrelated to the derogatory usage.
September 26, 2025 at 1:36 AM
lorishemka.bsky.social
The lead opinion channeled you, I think, in footnote 5.

[To me, the entire opinion is worth a study for its cleanup work of the district court judge's rulings.]
The concurrence cites a ChatGPT inquiry asking, “What does monkey ass mean?” Conc. op. at 22. ChatGPT functions as a consolidator of information, synthesizing patterns from a vast body of text, but it does not independently verify the accuracy of any material or its unknown sources. The information provided in the concurrence’s permalink to Urban Dictionary speaks for itself.
September 25, 2025 at 9:24 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
A retired judge recently passed. Was a prosecutor before but an even-handed judge. An assistant prosecutor argued a motion before him and recalled this silent point by the judge.
Case in point, Prill recalled, was a motion filed challenging the search of an individual who had a foil package in his pocket. The belief of the officer who searched the individual, locating the foil package, brought the officer to one conclusion: possession of a controlled substance. "While I made that argument based upon the testimony of the police officer, I recall Judge Kraus taking a Life Savers candy from the foil container it was in while I was making my argument," Prill said. "What a lesson both I and the officer learned.”
September 21, 2025 at 6:43 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Here’s why, from the article.

[And when I selected and copied for the alt-text, the callout icon is displayed as C]
Sept 18 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms' (META.O) C former chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said in a court filing C that she should not be forced to testify at a trial next month in San Francisco, where a group of advertisers is seeking billions of dollars in damages from the tech giant. Sandberg asked U.S. District Judge James Donato on Wednesday to quash a trial subpoena from the plaintiffs, arguing that she doesn't have unique and relevant knowledge to the claims in the class action.
September 19, 2025 at 1:21 AM
lorishemka.bsky.social
"Abstruse" is my new word of the day.

As in: “Here are some examples of the abstruse (but important) questions that the Court must answer.”

Would have preferred a plain-language word that was easier for the public-reading audience. Maybe “complicated” or “complex”?

#LegalWriting
Excerpt from a federal court memorandum and order. "Here are some examples of the abstruse (but important) questions that the . . . " Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines "abstruse" as difficult to comprehend.
September 11, 2025 at 2:46 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Sending bat-signal to @judgedillard.bsky.social and @cpy87.bsky.social for this part.
For example, recent assessments of law students - who have grown up as digital natives - have found that only around 1/3 of law students can perform the following tasks in Microsoft Word: • Accept/Turn-off track changes. • Cut & Paste. • Replace text. Format font and paragraph. Fix footers. Insert hyperlink. • Apply/Modify style. Insert/Update cross-references. • Insert page break. • Insert non-breaking space. • Clean document properties. • Create comparison document (i.e., a redline).51 A study that looked at attorneys and their staff found similar technological deficiencies. 52 For example, while greater than 85% of lawyers and staff are able to convert an item to a PDF file, only 4% can perform that task successfully when asked to create a PDF file that maintains active hyperlinks and converts internal headings into bookmarks.53 50 Casey Flaherty, Developing Technological Competency as a Lawyer, 96 Mich. B.J. 70 (June 2017). 51 Darth Vaughn & Casey Flaherty, Tech comes naturally to 'digital native' millennials? That's myth. ABA Journal (October 13, 2016) https://www.abajournal.com/legalrebels/article/tech_comes_naturally_to_digital_native_mi lennials_thats_a_myth. 5 Flaherty, supra note 44. 53 Id. at 72 (noting other disappointing statistics, including the fact that only 25% of lawyers and staff can correct agreement numbering within a reasonable timeframe and only
September 9, 2025 at 9:46 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Bonus practice reminder:

If using an AI tool to draft your federal court filing, don't begin the filing with the AI-generated template, followed by the completed template.

Link: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
September 7, 2025 at 1:10 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Reading a federal judge’s order via Google Scholar.

Did the judge write “plaintiff's counsel is hot authorized”?

No. The original scanned order uses “not”.

Firmly in the camp of save-as-PDF from the source word processing file.

❌Hard printing and (poor) scanning threaten later readability.
Order from Google Scholar "plaintiff's counsel is hot . . ." Actual printed and poorly scanned order uses "is not"
September 7, 2025 at 1:10 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
I don’t think she ever touched it. It fell down in the row in front of them.
Missed catching a baseball.
September 6, 2025 at 2:39 AM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Tagging @abeeinthebonnet.bsky.social

Being thought of in the other place.
September 1, 2025 at 8:08 AM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Tonight, a way up north Michigan bail bond company posted on their social media an alert of someone who cut off their tether and is at large.

Not long after, the person of interest starts engaging with them on the post.

The eventual bond revocation hearing will be . . . something.
August 26, 2025 at 2:02 AM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Unexpected analogy: Judge cites AI-assisted colonoscopy study about "deskilling" to warn pro se litigants & counsel about risks of over-relying on AI research.

“There can be no substitute for actually reading, analyzing, and distinguishing cases in fulfilling one’s obligation as a litigant . . . .”
If modern tools such as AI are going to be brought into the practice of law, the attorneys and pro se litigants who use it must do so with more than a modicum of caution or else they may fall into the trap of relying exclusively upon technology and not the skill, carefulness, and creativity which have always been hallmarks of competent lawyering.4 There can be no substitute for actually reading, analyzing, and distinguishing cases in fulfilling one’s obligation as a litigant to ensure that the pleadings that are filed assert “claims, defenses, and other legal contentions [that] are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b)(2). Fn 4: 4 See, for example, Omer F. Ahmed, Endoscopist deskilling: an unintended consequence of AI-assisted colonoscopy, Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology (forthcoming in print, published online Aug. 12, 2025), https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langas/article/PIIS2468-1253(25)00164-5/abstract, suggesting that continuous use of computer-aided polyp detection (CADe or AI) might impair endoscopic performance in non-AI assisted colonoscopies. The study revealed that specialists who used CADe experienced deskilling, potentially affecting patient-related outcomes as their detection rate for polyps declined significantly in just a short amount of time after using AI. By comparison, there is no AI equivalent for when an attorney or pro se party may be required to stand up in open court and advocate or defend an argument based on cases he or she has presumably researched and read. The human element is still essential. And an attorney’s duty to know his or her arguments and the cases, rules, and statutes relied upon remains at the heart of the practice of law, no matter what technology is used to advance a client’s case.
August 24, 2025 at 3:01 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
If the defendant wishes to make baseless accusations, "she should not hide behind the unsubstantiated 'conclu'[sions]" of artificial intelligence."

Link: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
August 23, 2025 at 3:14 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Posed the same prompt to Perplexity and got this. Sorry, not going to add alt text. Trust me that the response/image is AI slop.
August 8, 2025 at 10:21 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Remembering Gloria Steinem’s story about asking the turtle before moving it but knowing that I don’t speak turtle, I left this fella alone when I saw him on someone’s lawn during today’s walk.
Turtle in someone’s lawn with its head peeking out of its shell. Excerpt from a New Yorker article. Steinem has a mantra that she says she lives by. She calls it “Ask the Turtle,” because it involves a turtle she rescued—or thought she had—on a geology-class field trip to the Connecticut River Valley in the spring of her freshman year at Smith. “I found a mud turtle on the riverbank, up by the asphalt road,” she told me. “A big snapping turtle, more than a foot long, but I picked it up—carefully—and lugged it down to the river and slipped it in. The professor saw me just as the turtle disappeared in the water. He said that the turtle had been making its way to dry land for a reason—in order to lay its eggs—and that now it was going to take that turtle months more to lay them. It was a lesson I learned to apply to people a few years later, in India—though I didn’t realize it then—when I was going from village to village with Gandhian women organizers, listening to them ask, ‘Tell us your stories. You’ve lived them, you’re the experts.’ ”
August 1, 2025 at 9:25 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Emphasis Added

A first time for everything, I suppose.
A full-page legal exhibit divider titled: Exhibit A (Emphasis Added)
August 1, 2025 at 6:22 PM
lorishemka.bsky.social
Looks like they used the fillable form from the court's website.

www.cadc.uscourts.gov/sites/cadc/f...
July 25, 2025 at 8:07 PM