Senators Kuipers, Pappageorge, Stamas, Cassis, Jansen and Van Woerkom offered the following resolution:

            Senate Resolution No. 83.

            A resolution to urge the Honorable John Conyers, Jr., chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary in the United States House of Representatives, to conduct hearings on the fitness of United States District Court Judge Richard Enslen to serve.

            Whereas, As the elected representatives of the people of Michigan, the Senators of the Michigan State Senate are responsible for overseeing, regulating, and funding the activities of a large and diverse state. We take our responsibilities entrusted to us by the people of Michigan seriously and endeavor to balance the competing needs that come before us. Public safety and the wise stewardship of tax revenue are just two of the many areas our legislation touches; and

            Whereas, The federal courts have imposed their policy preferences for the operations and staffing of the Michigan prison system in a manner that undermines the Governor's ability to effectively carry out the management of the Michigan Department of Corrections to safeguard our citizens. In contravention of Governor Granholm's prison plans, United States District Court Judge Richard Enslen has once again issued a series of court orders that unduly interfere with and hamper the operations of our prison system. These activist judicial orders impose unreasonable standards on our Department of Corrections at the whim of the judge and compel needless excessive spending on the prison system by diverting precious scarce resources away from the real critical priorities of the state. Judge Enslen's persistent attempted micromanagement of the Michigan Department of Corrections and his efforts to improperly extend his jurisdiction beyond the scope of the pending litigation in his court to the entire prison system have consistently been rebuked by several United States Court of Appeals decisions which have tried to rein in this out-of-control judge. Judge Enslen's continued unprecedented and imprudent interference in and micromanagement of the Michigan Department of Corrections is unacceptable; and

            Whereas, Richard Enslen is a federal judge whose fitness to serve is a proper subject of congressional interest. The Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives should investigate the record of the Honorable Richard Enslen of the United States District Court to determine if he is fit to serve in our federal judiciary; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Senate, That we urge the Honorable John Conyers, Jr., chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary in the United States House of Representatives, to conduct hearings on the fitness of United States District Court Judge Richard Enslen to serve; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Honorable John Conyers, Jr., chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary in the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.