We've just had another demonstration of what having a Republican-controlled Michigan Supreme Court is like.
"The Michigan Supreme Court - in a decision that breaks along party-lines - has upheld a state law that will let Republicans on the Oakland County Commission redraw their district lines. The Supreme Court says the law complies with the state constitution, regardless of whether it was designed to give one party a political advantage. The Supreme Court's three Democrats dissented from the decision," Rick Pluta reports.The Court held that this was not a "local law", which would not be legal, in spite of the fact that it affects only Oakland County, and there is strong evidence that the law was passed for partisan reasons.
This follows a long string of decisions in which the Republican majority has twisted logic into pretzels and denied the plain language of Michigan statutes in order to achieve a partisan result. Most notably, in my mind, is their holding in the Nestle Waters case in 2007 that "any person" (has standing to sue to protect the environment, in the Michigan Environmental Protection Act) does not mean "any person", but "any person with a particularized injury".
For 30 years, there was no question that MEPA empowered private citizens to enforce the environmental laws and to protect the natural resources of this State. The Michigan Supreme Court itself previously considered MEPA significant legislation which gives the private citizen a sizable share of the initiative for environmental enforcement. Eyde v. State of Michigan and the Charter Township of Delta, 393 Mich 453, 454 (1975). Sadly, the present majority of the present court, Justices Taylor, Markman, Young and Corrigan, have essentially struck down MEPA's citizen suit provision. -- Justice4Michigan
It has to be said plainly -- these folks simply make up the law to suit themselves and their corporate sponsors. They ought to wear corporate logos on their robes like race car drivers.
We have the opportunity this fall to take back the majority on the Michigan Supreme Court from the Mackinac Center, ALEC, and their ilk, and give it back to the people of Michigan. This is a significant opportunity, that won't be back for some years, to elect three progressive justices in one election.
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left to right: Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Connie Kelley, Southfield District Judge Shelia Johnson, University of Michigan Law Professor Bridget Mary McCormack
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