GOP Supreme Court Nominee Tagged In Whistleblower Suit

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/04/2026) One of the Republicans' two likely state Supreme Court nominees, Oscoda Judge Cassandra L. Morse-Bills, is being accused in a whistleblower suit of improperly exchanging text messages with a juror in a sex assault case.

Former Oscoda County Clerk Heather Blundell is claiming in a federal lawsuit that she was fired in retaliation for telling a defense attorney that Morse-Bills exchanged text messages with a prospective juror who allegedly shared his "resentment for sitting through the entire trial only to be let go at the very end."

A message seeking comment from Morse-Bills was not returned on Monday.

Chief Judge Richard E. Vollbach Jr. and court administrator Tom Pratt are also named defendants. Efforts to reach them were unsuccessful.

Blundell alleges the text exchange occurred during the 2025 trial of Robert Declercq, a former Morgan Stanley wealth manager who was convicted of assaulting a three-year-old female family member.

The complaint alleges that Blundell and the judge were walking toward the judge's chambers when she stopped abruptly and laughed while looking at her cell phone.

Blundell claims that Morse-Bills told her the juror was "texting her his feelings about being let go from the jury," and the judge "appeared amused that this juror was texting her prior to the trial."

Blundell alleges that after sharing the conversation with co-workers, the courtroom video feed to her workstation had been "disconnected at the direction" of one or more of the defendants.

Blundell's complaint claims she told Declercq's trial attorney in December 2025 about her conversation with the judge related to the text messages, and that led to a hearing before Vollbach, who was asked to recuse Morse-Bills from any post-judgment hearings related to Declercq.

In February, Blundell alleges, she was placed on administrative leave while court personnel conducted an investigation into her actions, and on March 4, her employment was terminated for having contacted only one attorney involved in a pending criminal case, "specifically intending to place a circuit court jury trial verdict in question and attacked the integrity of the judge, the court, an excused juror and the jury verdict."

The lawsuit alleges violations of the First Amendment and the Michigan Whistleblowers Protection Act.

Morse-Bills practiced law in the private sector and as a county prosecutor prior to being elected in 2018.