Deborah Servitto

Deborah A. Servitto, born February 17, 1956, in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, was a Macomb County Circuit Judge. She became famous when on October 17, 2003 she delivered her ruling in the case of Deangelo Bailey vs. Eminem in the form of a rap rhyme in addition to a 14-page brief.

Servitto has a bachelor's degree from Oakland University and a law degree from the Detroit College of Law.

Deangelo Bailey sued Eminem over the song "Brain Damage" from the 1999 album, The Slim Shady LP that said "I was harassed daily by this fat kid named D'Angelo Bailey. An eighth-grader who acted obnoxious, cause his father boxes. So every day he'd shove me in the lockers."

The Judge decided that the case should be thrown out. Some of the most quoted lines from Servitto's rhyme are, "Mr. Bailey complains that his rep is trash/So he's seeking compensation in the form of cash/Bailey thinks he's entitled to some monetary gain/Because Eminem used his name in vain" and "the lyrics are stories no-one would take as fact/They're an exaggeration of a childish act/It is therefore this court's ultimate position/That Eminem is entitled to summary disposition."

In 2006 Servitto was elected to the Michigan Court of Appeals to the 2nd district which covers Oakland, Macomb and Genesee Counties.

External links

• The full opinion at The Smoking Gun
• Michigan Courts biography
• Appeals Court bio of Servitto