The Michigan Constitution Podcast: Recent Episodes
Tony Snyder
Premise liability is the number one money-maker for slip & fall lawyers. Fortunately in Michigan, there is something called the “Open & Obvious” doctrine which is used to help get lawsuit-happy litigants out of our court system. In this one-off podcast, we will discuss what it means and how certain statutes, regulations and codes can play a factor in helping us to determine whether the Open & Obvious doctrine applies.
From time-to-time, I will produce what I will call “One-Off” podcasts, which don’t really address the provisions of the Michigan Constitution…but instead, are cases I think you (the listener) might find interesting to learn about. This podcast is one such case. We’re going to get into the idea of a “Public Duty Doctrine” which is when a police officer will not be held liable for the crimes committed against another person. The theory here is that the police can’t be on the hook for crimes committed by a 3rd party against the victim. The other area of law we will discuss is the governmental immunity doctrine, which gives governmental employees liability protections for actions they did (or did not) take, while performing their responsibilities.
We will continue our conversation about the Right to Bail. In particular, we’ll discuss:
- Pre-Trial Bail versus Post-Conviction Bail
- How bail impacts your ability to leave the police station
- What is the Goldilocks approach to setting bail?
- What happens if the Michigan Constitution changes and caught between the old constitutional provision and the new provision.
Bail takes on many factors. Sometimes on your signature, sometimes backed-up with collateral like your home.
Double Jeopardy places certain restrictions on the government, thus minimizing repeat trials against a criminal defendant, until the Prosecutor eventually wins the case.
Double Jeopardy is intended to give a criminal defendant closure after guilt or innocence has been determined. But it might not end there.
We'll discuss a law firm screwing up their own lawsuit request for a jury trial; we'll talk more about a jury of your peers, and getting thrown out of political office.
Do you know when you have the right to a jury trial in administrative law matters? Criminal trials? Jury of your peers?
Do you know whether a jury trial is allowed for child neglect cases? Real property ownership? Ejectment?
Representing yourself at trial is a protected Michigan Constitutional right. But there are parameters by which a judge may restrict that right.
The right to an attorney and the right to represent yourself are protected by the Michigan Constitution.
We discuss exigent circumstances when police may or MAY NOT conduct a warrantless search and seizure
A Michigan Search & Seizure case goes from the Michigan Supreme Court to the United States Supreme Court!
Is it considered an unreasonable seizure of a person to stay with the police, while they execute a search warrant of your home? To what extent can we give credibility to an informant regarding the information they tell the police?
The MI Constitution has a provision which mirrors the US Constitution's 4th Amendment. But we give a little extra...sorta!
We will finish our conversation about Ex Post Facto laws and why substantive, versus procedural, rights are the main factor we review to determine if a law change is an ex post facto violation. We have a two prong test, and then (wait for it) a 7-factor test to roll through! Now, don't skip out. We don't review all 7, we merely discuss the factors which are most relevant to our cases at hand!
We are continuing our coverage of Article 1, Section 10 of the Michigan Constitution. Remember, there are technically three provisions which make up this one Section. Before, we covered Bills of Attainder. Now we're going to address Ex Post Facto laws. These laws are prohibited because, by and large, the make actions criminal which were NOT criminal at the time they were committed. But the key to an actual ex post facto law entails 4 designations. We will talk about them and when laws are (but mostly aren't) Ex Post Facto, thus unconstitutional.
A bill of attainder occurs when the Michigan Legislature criminalizes something you did in the past, when it wasn't illegal to do it, and does not provide you with a judicial trial. This podcast will review situations where individuals believed the Legislature took an action, against them as a Defendant, and attempted to make their behavior a criminal in nature, without the benefit of a trial.
Some make a distasteful argument that being required to do something (or not being allowed to do something) was involuntary servitude and should be prohibited under the Michigan Constitution. But none of these cases successfully won their argument. Find out WHY in this podcast!
This section of the Michigan Constitution prohibits the State of Michigan from forcibly requiring its citizens from housing soldiers.
We review the Michigan Supreme Court case regarding the Executive Orders issued by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer under the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act (EPGA)
The Michigan National Guard will be subordinate to civil authorities during times of peace.
There are some restrictions on the right to bear arms, pursuant to the Michigan Constitution. Find out what those are in this podcast.
The Right to Bear Arms pursuant to the Michigan Constitution allows for protection for oneself, property and the State of Michigan
Defamation traditionally occurs when a newspaper writes a story which harms the reputation of the individual. How do we protect the media yet balance a reputation?
Freedom of speech protects obscenity laws, political contributions, commercial speech and political speech.
We continue the conversation about Michigan’s Constitution; Article 1, Section 5; and the Freedom of Speech. This time, we focus in on how the Michigan Constitution addresses topics like Fighting Words, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of the Press, Trials Closed to the Media, Prior Restraint and Freedom of Speech for State of Michigan Employees.
Although the United States Constitution wraps all our free speech rights into the First Amendment, our Michigan Constitution does not. It breaks it up between Article 1, Section 3 as well as Section 5. In this podcast, I start with a general review of Article 1, Section 5 and the free speech concept, generally. This… Read More »Episode 12: Freedom of Speech (Part 1)
This time we discuss the Michigan Legislature suing the Michigan Governor over Executive Orders
This topic, specifically Article 1, Section 4 is going to be broken up into 4 podcasts. There is a lot of information to share. This is Part 4 of 4.
This topic, specifically Article 1, Section 4 is going to be broken up into 4 podcasts. There is a lot of information to share. This is Part 3 of 4.
This topic, specifically Article 1, Section 4 is going to be broken up into 4 podcasts. There is a lot of information to share. This is Part 2 of 4.
This topic, specifically Article 1, Section 4 is going to be broken up into 4 podcasts. There is a lot of information to share. This is Part 1 of 4.
This time we discuss Article 1, Section 3 which discusses topics such as private versus public free speech, the right to assemble and the right to petition your government.
Michigan has an equal protection clause similar, but not identical to the US Constitution
We discuss the authority of democracy and when the Michigan Legislature can wield political power, delegate political power or must defer political power to the federal government.
This time around we review the Michigan Constitution and its authority against the backdrop of the United State Constitution. While the federal government grants rights to the states, the people of those individual states may choose to limit the state's power even further.
The Michigan Constitution Podcast begins with a general introduction and a high-level history of the various constitutions of the State of Michigan.