Updates About Supreme Court Rulings

On September 20, the Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear the Attorney General’s appeals to the Flint Water case, citing that they were not persuaded to hear the appeals which called for the Supreme Court to overturn the dismissal of the case from a lower court.

Back in January 2021, Jarrod Agen, Gerald Ambrose, Richard Baird, Darnell Earley, Nicolas Lyon, Nancy Peeler, Richard Snyder, and Eden Wells were charged with counts ranging from perjury, misconduct tin office, willful neglect of duty, to involuntary manslaughter. However, because of the one-man jury trial used by the Attorney General, these charges were dropped after the Supreme Court considered them unconstitutional three years ago.

In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the “independent state legislature theory” in Moore v. Harper.

The case stems from North Carolina’s most-recently drawn congressional map, which was argued to be racially gerrymandered. The North Carolina Supreme Court had ruled that the map was in violation of the state’s constitution, but others argued that the independent state legislature theory allowed the map to be valid. This theory asserts that state legislatures have sole authority to establish federal election laws without review by courts or governors.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued a statement on the Supreme Court’s decision, stating it was a “victory for Michigan’s citizen-led and voter-enacted independent redistricting process”.

The Michigan Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit brought forward by Governor Gretchen Whitmer that asked the high court to rule on the constitutionality of Michigan’s 1931 law that banned abortions.

With the passage of Proposal 3 in November 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court dismissed Whitmer’s case as moot. This comes after Governor Whitmer asked the court to withdraw her request. The request, which she originally filed following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, kept Michigan’s 1931 ban on abortions from going into effect until residents had a chance to vote on Proposal 3.