Detroit-area judge retires after 40 years on local, federal benches

Detroit – A Detroit-area judge who served in local and federal courts for 40 years has retired.

“It has been my great joy to work with you and to create so many friendships,” Judge Marianne Battani said in a farewell letter to colleagues at U.S. District Court.

Battani, 76, was nominated to the court by President Bill Clinton in 1999 after about 20 years as a judge on the Detroit Common Pleas Court, 36th District Court and Wayne County Circuit Court, the federal court said Monday.

She made headlines in 2018 when she sentenced a man to 30 days in custody for attacking his neighbor, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who suffered broken ribs and needed surgery. Prosecutors had asked for nearly two years in prison.

Battani was assigned to go to Kentucky to handle the case. She called the assault an “isolated incident,” not motivated by politics.

But after an appeal, a different judge sentenced Rene Boucher to eight months in prison and six months of home confinement.