Lawyer under fire for ‘You say domestic violence, I say spousal discipline’ T-shirt

Community leaders spoke out about domestic violence and its impact on Mid-Michigan on Tuesday, but the way a local lawyer treated the issue has them calling for immediate action and an apology.

Genesee County Attorney Jay Clothier put a message on a T-shirt that said, “You say domestic violence, I say spousal discipline.”

That’s not sitting too well with women’s groups or with local law enforcement.

Nearly 350 women have had to seek shelter in Flint alone this year because of some form of spousal abuse.

Sheriff Robert Pickell believes Clothier’s T-shirt needs to be addressed by the Michigan Bar Association.

“I’m going to write a letter to the Bar Association regarding this. Something must be done,” Pickell said.

UPDATE: Attorney Jay Clothier responded to the Sheriff on his personal Facebook page posting,

“To my friends, a domestic violence client made the comment to me almost 7-10 years ago. It was a perverse offensive comment made to me, which offended me. It was shocking n dialogue inspiring, and also kinda hit on many cases I have, where there’s no evidentiary proof n was basically a He Said She Said.

I had my printer create it to be shocking dialogue inspiring. I considered making it, but figured it was offensive n over the top. These were a mock draft that I thought was offensive to actual real victims. This press conference about a photo of a shirt made 7-10 years ago was a vindictive attempt to character assasinate me for doing my job.

People should be outraged at the Sheriff for his vindictive political agenda. How about managing your own department matters rather than attacking a lawyer?”