Updates About Lower Court Rulings

The Michigan Court of Appeals recently vacated the convictions of Joseph Morrison. Morrison was a member of the Wolverine Watchmen militia group and was convicted in 2022 for providing material support for an act of terrorism, gang membership felonies, and felony firearm charges in connection with the 2020 plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The three-judge panel was unanimous in their decision that ruled kidnapping does not qualify as a violent felony under the statute that used to support Morrison’s terrorism conviction. His terrosim conviction was used as the underlying offense for the gang membership and felony firearm convictions, meaning they also had to be vacated. The court sent the case to Jackson County Circuit Court for a new trial, finding that jurors on the original trial may have relied on kidnapping as the underlying violent felony when reaching their verdict.

The decision came under heavy criticism among Michigan’s elected Democratic lawmakers. Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that her office intends to appeal the ruling.

A settlement between Governor Whitmer and House Republicans has been reached regarding the over $370 million in work project funds canceled by House Republicans last year. The settlement, which was resolved in the Michigan Court of Claims, removed the designated funds for all work projects and instead put them mostly back into the State’s General Fund.

The litigation started when Attorney General Dana Nessel issued an opinion, at the request of Senate Democrats, that the original funding blockage was unconstitutional. After this opinion, Governor Whitmer directed the departments to spend the money as appropriated, causing House Republicans to sue in order to block the spending.

The ruling also upheld the rule that allowed a single appropriations committee to act alone in canceling the work project. However, Senate Democrats are interested in working on legislation that would ban this authority.

Both Republican House Speaker Matt Hall (Richland) and Democratic Senate Appropriations Chair Sarah Anthony (Lansing) claimed victory in their statements on the court’s outcome. Hall pointed to the $370.8 million returned to the General Fund as restoring budget flexibility, while Anthony emphasized that only $370 million of the $645 million total they had argued was blocked.

Read past newsletter articles on the work project funding developments here:

Unexpected House Action Shifts Spotlight to Work Project Funding

AG Issues Formal Opinion on Legality of Work Projects, Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has decided not to pursue an appeal after the 54-A District Court in Lansing dismissed the criminal charges brought against a group of 15 defendants who conspired to award Michigan’s 2020 electoral votes to Donald Trump instead of Joe Biden. The group signed fake certificate of votes, and sent them to the United States Senate with the intention of the false votes being accepted as the official electoral votes for the State of Michigan.

In her official statement, Nessel cited roadblocks such as time required and the difficulty with which the courts have dealt with election law violations that would hinder the office of the attorney general from a successful prosecution.