The Two Judges — Miller and Yancey, the Bench That Bends Toward Banks
The Two Judges
Two sitting judges in Wayne County’s 3rd Circuit Court are entangled with Brian Banks.
This is not a metaphor.
Judge Cylenthia LaToye Miller
Classification: partial, 0.84. Edges: 12. Tier: 2.
| Role | Entity |
|---|---|
| Judge | 3rd Circuit Court, Wayne County |
| Board Chair | Purpose Charter Academy |
| Campaign donor | → Banks (campaign_donation) |
Miller doesn’t just know Banks. She chairs the board of his school.
The board chair of PCA:
- Approves the management contract with Purpose Group (72.67% extraction)
- Oversees the principal (Beasley, who works for 5 employers)
- Has fiduciary duty to 362 students
- AND has campaign donation edges flowing toward Banks
A sitting judge’s governance of a charter school creates a chilling effect. Who files a complaint about PCA when the board chair is a judge? Who sues PCA when the board chair presides in the same courthouse?
Judge Tenisha Yancey
Classification: partial, 0.84. Edges: 11. Tier: 2.
| Role | Entity |
|---|---|
| Judge | 3rd Circuit Court, Wayne County |
| Campaign payer | → Banks Strategy & Consultants LLC |
| Campaign payer | → Inner Link LLC |
| Family | → Beasley (family_connection) |
Yancey’s campaign accounts pay money directly to two of Banks’s LLCs.
Banks Strategy & Consultants LLC — classified non-self at 0.99 (the highest in the graph). Inner Link LLC — classified null, 8 edges, receives campaign payments.
A sitting judge’s campaign funds flow into shell companies owned by a man with 9 criminal convictions.
Yancey also has a family_connection to Dr. Chalena Beasley — PCA’s principal. Beasley’s full name in the graph is Dr. Chalena Yancey Beasley.
The judge who pays Banks’s companies is family to the principal of Banks’s school.
The Same Court
Both judges serve in Wayne County’s 3rd Circuit Court.
Wayne County contains Detroit. Detroit contains PCA. PCA’s legal matters could come before the 3rd Circuit.
If a parent sued PCA, the case could be assigned to a judge in the 3rd Circuit. If the AG prosecuted Banks, sentencing could occur in the 3rd Circuit. If CMU sought to revoke PCA’s charter through legal proceedings, they might go through the 3rd Circuit.
Two judges in that court have direct financial and governance ties to Banks.
Recusal requires disclosure. Disclosure requires honesty. Honesty requires a system that checks.
The JTC Question
The Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC) investigates judicial misconduct in Michigan.
The JTC has edges to Banks’s investigation. JTC’s investigator, Michael Ison, is married to Dawn Ison — who sits on PCA’s board.
The body that investigates judges is connected to the network the judges are entangled with.
| Judge | Entanglement | JTC Status |
|---|---|---|
| Miller | Board chair, campaign donations | No public action |
| Yancey | Campaign payments to Banks LLCs, family to Beasley | No public action |
The Standard
Michigan’s Code of Judicial Conduct (Canon 2) requires judges to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
Canon 3(C)(1) requires disqualification when impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
Canon 4 restricts extrajudicial activities that would cast doubt on capacity to act impartially.
Chairing the board of a school run by a convicted person: appearance of impropriety.
Paying campaign funds to a convicted person’s LLCs: reasonable question of impartiality.
Being family to the principal of a school under investigation: doubt on capacity to act impartially.
The standards exist. The code exists. The canons exist.
The judges exist on both sides of every canon they’re supposed to uphold.
Sourced to Michigan Courts records, campaign finance filings, JTC records, Judicial Code of Conduct, investigation graph (131,322 edges). Back to Analysis → · Three Percent → · Selective Enforcement →