Judge Kathleen G. Galen

Identity

The Wine Bar Clause

Before becoming a judge, Galen co-owned Cork Wine Pub in Pleasant Ridge. She personally signed a 2013 agreement barring her corporation from placing its liquor license in escrow if the restaurant closed. The restaurant closed. She put the license in escrow anyway — while sitting on the 38th District Court bench — in violation of that agreement.

The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission’s 2024 Annual Report describes an admonition matching those facts precisely.

The attorney who represented her in the resulting dispute? Mark Makoski — who is now:

1. The magistrate in her own courtroom (38th District Court)
2. The Treasurer of record on her campaign committee’s Statement of Organization

A second person named in that same 2020 campaign filing, Heather Froias (Designated Record Keeper), is now the official court reporter assigned to Galen’s courtroom, confirmed by SCAO certification records (Certified Electronic Recorder No. 9671).

Source: Clutch Justice, Sep 22, 2026

The Personnel Overlap

The person responsible for keeping the record of what happens in Galen’s courtroom was named the record keeper on Galen’s own campaign committee. The person who represented Galen in a dispute that generated a JTC admonition now sits as magistrate in her court.

Causing Her Problems: Soward

Zsazsa Soward pleaded guilty to driving without a valid license — a nonserious misdemeanor. Galen sentenced her to 93 days in the Macomb County Jail. On the record, Galen told Soward she knew her pregnancy was “causing her problems” before imposing the sentence.

The Michigan Court of Appeals:

• Found Galen’s reasoning unsupported by the record
• Called the incarceration an abuse of discretion
• Vacated the sentence

This occurred at the same court that has operated under a Macomb Circuit Court order since March 8, 2016 — won by the ACLU against then-Judge Carl F. Gerds III — specifically requiring judges to determine ability to pay before jailing defendants over unpaid fines.

Source: Clutch Justice, Sep 23, 2026

Off the Record: The Pattern

Clutch Justice documented four additional rulings from Galen’s courtroom showing the same defect — gaps between what the record is supposed to show and what it actually shows:

• A vacated sentence
• A stipulated correction
• A same-day transcript
• The circuit court reversal in Mark Anthony Clark — defendant not allowed to testify at his own trial

In a separate April 2026 pretrial hearing, defense attorney John Gerlach told Galen on the record that he felt “physically intimidated” by his own client and asked to be relieved as counsel that day. Galen did not grant immediate withdrawal — she required a written motion, adjourned a week, and kept Gerlach on the case.

Source: Clutch Justice, Sep 24, 2026

The Brother’s Lawsuit

Galen’s brother and a co-plaintiff filed a residency challenge against her election opponent, Richard Goodman. Michigan’s election officials rejected it on the merits. The challenge became two separate lawsuits, filed against the wrong defendants in the wrong court, kept alive for months, and ultimately dismissed without a single evidentiary hearing on the question they claimed to be about.

Goodman has filed confidential JTC and AGC complaints asking investigators to determine what role, if any, Galen played in her brother filing a residency challenge against her opponent.

Source: Clutch Justice, Sep 24, 2026

The Makoski Residency Problem

Magistrate Mark Makoski was appointed by Galen in 2022 — the same year he filed a principal residence rescission with the City of Warren, certifying under penalty of perjury that he no longer occupied the Warren house he had claimed as home since 1994.

The Makoski cluster: Personal attorney → campaign treasurer → magistrate → possibly not resident of the district. All roads lead to 28479 Hoover Road, Warren.

November 3, 2026: The Election

Galen is on the November 3, 2026 ballot for re-election to the 38th District Court, opposed by Richard Goodman. Goodman filed JTC and AGC complaints alleging that Galen and her brother used months of litigation to try to remove him from the ballot over a residency challenge dismissed with prejudice on August 31, 2026.

Investigation Path

• Pull full 38th District Court docket statistics for Galen’s tenure
• Check SCAO workload reports for caseload vs. outcome patterns
• FOIA: Cork Wine Pub liquor license records from Michigan LARA/LCC
• Campaign finance filings: review all committee filings for personnel overlap
• FOIA: Makoski’s appointment order, residency information provided, court address records
• FOIA: Eastpointe rental file for occupancy records
• FOIA: Voter registration records for Makoski — when he began using Eastpointe address
• Review ACLU consent order compliance (2016 Macomb Circuit Court order)
• Track JTC and AGC complaint outcomes (Goodman filings)

Sources

• Clutch Justice, The Wine Bar Clause, Sep 22, 2026
• Clutch Justice, Causing Her Problems, Sep 23, 2026
• Clutch Justice, Off the Record, Sep 24, 2026
• Clutch Justice, Slumbering on Their Rights, Sep 24, 2026
• Michigan JTC 2024 Annual Report (anonymized admonition match)
• SCAO Certification No. 9671 (Froias)
• 38th District Court website (Makoski listed as magistrate)