Anti-Gay Mich. Official to Judge Set to Rule on Restraining Order: Recuse Yourself

The strange case of a state official who has been accused of cyber-bullying and stalking an openly gay university student has taken another twist. Anti-gay blogger and assistant state attorney general Andrew Shirvell says that the judge in a restraining order request against him has close ties to another public official who has made publicly critical statements about him, and therefore should recuse herself.

For about half a year, Shirvell has maintained a blog called "Chris Armstrong Watch," named for the openly gay student who heads the student assembly of the University of Michigan. Shirvell has accused Armstrong of being "Satan's representative," and made claims about Armstrong hosting sex parties and targeting fellow students for gay seduction. In blog postings, Shirvell called Armstrong a "privileged pervert" and accused him of "sexual escapades at churches and children's playgrounds." The blog also referred to Armstrong as a "Nazi-like recruiter for the cult that is homosexuality," and accused the young man of being "racist and elitist to the core." Shirvell has also stalked the student with a video camera, going so far as to take footage outside Armstrong's home late one evening.

Shirvell's boss, the state's attorney general Mike Cox, has said that Shirvell's actions are "immature" and show a "lack of judgment," but that Shirvell has the freedom of speech to critique Armstrong outside of work hours.

But Anderson Cooper, who has interviewed Cox, Shirvell, and Armstrong on his CNN news program Anderson Cooper 360, revealed that Shirvell and Cox have closer ties that were previously known.

"It appears, though, that you are obsessed with this young gay man," Cooper told Shirvell during a Sept. 28 interview on CNN, before going on to cite the state of Michigan's criminal code regarding cyber-stalking and cyber-bullying. Cooper asked Shirvell whether he fit the description of a cyber-bully, given the accusations he had posted online against Armstrong.

"No, I'm totally not--and that's a totally mischaracterization," Shirvell responded.

"Do you consider yourself a bigot?" Cooper asked.

"Absolutely not," Shirvell replied. "I'm a Christian citizen exercising my First Amendment rights. I have no problem with the fact that Chris is a homosexual," added Shirvell. "I have a problem with the fact that he is advancing a very radical agenda."

"It seems like you hate this guy because he's gay," Cooper said.

"Well, Anderson, that's your spin on it," Shirvell replied. "The real bigot here is Chris Armstrong." Shirvell went on to add, "He's a political figure, Anderson." Shirvell cited his having graduated from the University of Michigan as a primary reason for his "protests" of Armstrong, telling Cooper, "I have a right as an alum and as a private citizen to criticize him in my after-hours work."

Following that interview with Anderson Cooper, Shirvell took personal leave from his job. A spokesperson for Cox has told the media that Shirvell faces the prospect of disciplinary proceedings upon his return.

Throughout the half-year of attacks that the blog has aimed at him, Armstrong refused to fire back. But on Oct. 6, in an interview with Cooper, Armstrong directly responded for the first time in public to Shirvell's online attacks. "Why are you speaking out now?" Cooper asked the student.

"Given what's happened in the past week, and given the student suicides that have happened in the past few weeks, it's hard not to say something," Armstrong replied, referring to a rash of recent suicides by gay teens across the nation who had suffered anti-gay harassment and bullying at school.

"Did it surprise you that you're out of high school and yet you're suddenly in a position where you're being bullied in a completely unusual way by someone in a position of power?" asked Cooper.

"It was certainly surprising," said Armstrong. Though he referred to Shirvell's blog as being "hurtful," Armstrong added that "the things being said about me are not my issues."

Shirvell has now shielded Chris Armstrong Watch behind a password-protected layer of security. Shirvell has been banned from the University of Michigan campus, and Armstrong has applied for a personal protection order against Shirvell. If Armstrong is granted the order of personal protection, that would be grounds for initiating proceedings to address Shirvell's conduct, Mike Cox told Anderson Cooper during his own interview on AC360.

But Shirvell sought to intercede in the matter of the restraining order with an Oct. 6 filing in which he requested that Judge Nancy Francis, who is scheduled to rule on Armstrong's request on Oct. 25, recuse herself, reported Ann Arbor.com on Oct. 13. Shirvell said that the judge cannot make an unbiased decision because her sister is State Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, whom Cooper also interviewed on Oct. 1.

Shirvell "Hostile" and "Intimidating"

Smith said that her dealings with Shirvell had been "hostile" and that Shirvell had been "intimidating." She told Cooper, "He should be dismissed from the attorney general's office. He's using the power of that office, he's using the representation of the office in his encounters in order to intimidate and win favor and points for his cause." Smith said that Shirvell was a "liability" for the attorney general's office.

In the course of the interview it emerged that Smith had also been a target of Shirvell's. The assistant attorney general had called for a boycott of a bank where Smith was a member of the board of directors. Shirvell also had called for the cancellation of a seminar in 2004 at which Smith was scheduled to appear. Ann Arbor.com reported that Shirvell had told The Ann Arbor News he targeted Smith--and also her son--for favoring women's reproductive freedoms despite belonging to the Catholic Church.

"The actions/statements of Representative Wheeler Smith, who is the sister of Judge Francis, clearly constitutes grounds for disqualification," Shirvell's filing claimed. "At the very least, the statement of Representative Wheeler Smith and the nature of her relationship to Judge Francis create an appearance of impropriety."

But Anderson Cooper reported on the nature of the relationship between Shirvell and Cox in an Oct. 1 broadcast. "Here's what we uncovered in a search of Michigan campaign finance records: thousands of dollars paid by the Cox campaign to Andrew Shirvell," Cooper told viewers. "And this goes back, way back to 2002, to a campaign, consulting fees, payroll fees, and other campaign-related expenses.

"Shirvell, it turns out, also worked on Mr. Cox's 2006 campaign," Cooper went on. "As for his job, Attorney General Cox described him as a front-line grunt assistant prosecutor. In fact, he works in the office's... appellate division, which makes him more than just a simple grunt. We invited Mr. Cox to come back on the program and talk," Cooper continued. "He declined. He did, however, take a shot at former Attorney General and current Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, who tweeted yesterday that if she were still attorney general, she would have fired Shirvell by now."

Cooper aired a video segment of another former Michigan attorney general, Frank Kelley, commenting on the case. "Well, when he was barred from the University of Michigan because of his actions, that raises the question of sexual harassment and intimidation," Kelley noted. "Right away, there's laws against that. I would have my lawyers check into it. And if he had... done any of those things, he violated his agency and should be disciplined immediately."

Cooper noted that far from it being the case, as Cox had suggested, that free speech guarantees made it impossible for the AG's office to take action against Shirvell, the law provides for legal remedy where needed. "An appointing authority may discipline a classified employee for just cause," the relevant passage, read aloud by Cooper, states.

"Just cause includes but is not limited to the following: conduct unbecoming a state employee," Cooper added, going on from there to speak with Alma Wheeler Smith, who proceeded to make the comments Shirvell cited in his Oct. 6 filing.

Shirvell's conduct has been addressed by agencies outside of the AG's office. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission denounced Shirvell's actions on Oct. 12, and issued a press release about the resolution the following day.

"The Commission believes such conduct should not be tolerated from anyone, let alone a public official responsible for representing all people equally. The Commission is also concerned about the scope and nature of the involvement of this individual in the execution of the work of the Office of the Attorney General," the resolution stated.

Another university student encountered anti-gay bias when she set out to organize a GLTB film festival, reported the Associated Press on Oct. 15. Student Crystal Kazik, who attends The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, received an email from a faculty member suggesting that she not host the film festival.

The chairman of the university's information systems department, Tom Hilton, wrote Kazik that he was opposed to "attempts to legitimize [gay] addictions and compulsions." Hilton added, "These, our fellow humans, deserve our best efforts to help them recover their lives."