Will the Michigan Supreme Court do the Right Thing? Or Will It Permit GOP Corruption?

From Michigan Democratic Party

Court Should Follow the Law and Declare Oakland County Redistricting Bill Unconstitutional

LANSING – The Michigan Supreme Court will soon decide whether a blatant Republican power grab is unconstitutional. The question now is, will the Court make the right ruling or will it permit GOP corruption on both the county and state level?

“This case will show one way or another whether the Michigan Supreme Court is on the side of the rule of law, or on the side of political corruption,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer said. “The facts are simple. This law is clearly unconstitutional, as two courts have already found, and emails between GOP leaders have proven this is nothing more than a blatant partisan power grab by the Republicans.”

“Our courts are designed to stand up for the Constitution and stop political corruption. Will the Michigan Supreme Court do the right thing and declare this law unconstitutional? Or will the Court rule in favor of Republican corruption?” asked Brewer. “The Court should follow the law, rise above petty partisan politics and stop this backroom deal.”

E-mails show Oakland County Republicans plotting path to maintain board control

By Kathleen Gray/Detroit Free Press

A day before the state Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments on a law allowing Oakland County to redraw its district map for county commissioners, e-mails revealed that county Executive L. Brooks Patterson, along with county Clerk Bill Bullard and several Republican lawmakers, led a push to get the state law passed.

E-mails obtained by the Oakland County Democratic Party under the Freedom of Information Act show Patterson had county lobbyists pushing to ensure enough votes for the bill and got state Reps. Eileen Kowall, R-White Lake and Marty Knollenberg, R-Troy, to shepherd the bills through the Legislature.

The bill ostensibly was a means to save $250,000 a year by cutting the number of commissioners from 25 to 21 and allowing the Republican controlled county commission to redraw the maps.

But in one e-mail, Kowall said, “I guess it would also help to have a legitimate explanation as to why we waited until now, after redistricting plans have been submitted, to take these bills up. I’m thinking that we claim we were having trouble agreeing on how many seats the BOC would ultimately have.”

In the same e-mail, she noted the importance of keeping Republicans in charge. “We have plenty of examples of what the Dems have tried to do and would do if they gain power,” she wrote. “They would ruin (Oakland County) and destroy what decades of exemplary leadership took to build.”

The bills passed, despite concerns that it would run into constitutional problems because it applied only to Oakland County.

“I’m not sure the LSB (legislative services bureau) can constitutionally write language that will solely effect Oakland County without getting us into too much trouble,” wrote Mike Compagnori, an aide to state Rep. Brad Jacobsen, R-Oxford, who sponsored the legislation.

Republicans passed the bills in December after a five-member reapportionment commission, which had a 3-2 majority of Democrats, approved redistricting maps for county commission districts last August.

Democrats challenged the law and the Circuit Court and Court of Appeals have ruled in their favor, saying the law affects only one unit of government, which requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.

Deputy County Executive Gerald Poisson lashed out at Democrats today, saying the reapportionment commission is made up partially of unelected, partisans who are unaccountable to the public.

The reapportionment commissions, which have been in place in Oakland County since 1968, are made up of the county prosecutor, treasurer and clerk and the heads of the county Democratic and Republican parties.

“Oakland County Democrats should cheer the transparency and sunshine Act 280 brings,” Poisson said.

But state Rep. Vicki Barnett, D-Farmington Hills, said, "We expected certain members of the Republican caucus were conspiring to undermine the redistricting process… and these emails definitively prove that.”

Judge Overturns Republican Redistricting Plan For Oakland County

From CBS Detroit:

PONTIAC (WWJ) Judge William Collette from Ingham County Circuit Court issued a ruling Wednesday overturning the controversial legislation that would have allowed Republicans in Oakland County to redo redistricting — reportedly to their advantage — prior to the 2012 election.

“We are glad that Judge Collette saw the “Republican Powergrab Bill,” for what it was – an outrageous attempt by Republicans to change the law, just for Oakland County, for Republican political gain,” said Frank Houston, plaintiff and Chairman of the Oakland County Apportionment Commission, who successfully sued Governor Snyder  on the constitutional grounds of Public Act 280. 

Collette’s decision stated:

“(The Act) violates the Michigan Constitution, Article 4, Section 29’s prohibition on local acts, violates the Headlee Amendment’s prohibition on unfunded mandates, and violates MCL 46,406 by impinging on Oakland County voters’ rights to petition for judicial review of the reapportionment plan.” 

The decision allows for lawyers fees to be covered by the state and county and reaffirms the court’s decision that taxpayers were unconstitutionally responsible for the potential costs of redoing redistricting in Oakland County – a process that approached six figures in 2011.

“Justice is truly blind. It sees neither the left nor the right. It sees the truth, and today truth prevailed, the people have won,” said Eric Coleman, former Oakland County Commissioner and past President of the National Association of Counties.

There’s no word yet on whether Governor Rick Snyder and Oakland County Republicans will take the case to the Michigan Court of Appeals. If they don’t, the Apportionment Commission plan that was approved last spring and upheld previously by the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.

But Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson seemed ready to keep the fight going.

“Today’s ruling by the liberal Ingham County Circuit Court is a Phyrric victory for the Democrats.  Ingham County Circuit Court has a long record of ruling in favor of Democrats, only to be overturned by higher courts. This matter will be settled in the Michigan Supreme Court,” Patterson said in a statement.

Democrats saw it a different way, with Democratic Commissioner Gary McGillivray saying, “I hope that both our County Executive and Governor stop wasting taxpayer dollars on these political games so we can all get back to work on the issues voters really care about… “In my district people care about finding good paying jobs, property values and having quality services.” 

The case played out in the background of L. Brooks Patterson’srecent state of the county address – Patterson didn’t invite Democratic county commissioners, citing the lawsuit. Dems held their own state of the county and lashed out at Patterson for “playing politics.”

Oakland County Democrats sue Governor over re-districting rules

By Sarah Cwiek/Michigan Radio thanks to @wavingcrosser on twitter. 

Democrats in Oakland County are suing Governor Snyder over a new lawthat gives county commissioners the power to draw their own districts.

Historically, a group of five county officials created the map. During the most recent process, Democrats dominated the group for the first time in recent history.

The new law would let the Republican-dominated County Commission re-do the process. Infuriated Democrats say the change, which applies only to Oakland County, is an unprecedented power grab.

Frank Houston, chair of the Oakland County Democrats and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, says the change was also unconstitutional.

“If there’s anything dealing with a local form of government, and only one government in the state, it requires a 2/3 vote of the legislature," Houston says. "It didn’t get it, and it’s obviously a Lansing overstep...so it’s out of line, and it’s unconstitutional.”

Houston says retroactively changing the map, which was upheld in the Michigan Court of Appeals, amounts to an assault on democracy.

 “And I think the court of public opinion also rejects the partisan oversteps of either party, when they seek to undo redistricting laws and court decisions after they’ve happened,” he adds.

Republicans call the law a cost-saving measure because it reduces the number of county commissioners.

Longtime Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson responded with a statement:

“The Democrats want to overturn the will of the people so they can maintain a larger, more costly government in Oakland County. A majority of the representatives of the people of the State of Michigan voted in favor of the bill to reduce the number of Oakland County commissioners which was signed into law by our duly-elected governor.”