Former MI lawmakers appeal suit challenging Michigan s legislative term limits
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Posted at 8:47 AM, Apr 16, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-16 08:47:34-04
(WXYZ) â A group of former Michigan lawmakers has filed an appeal after a federal judge upheld Michigan s term limits for state representatives and senators.
The bipartisan group of 10 former lawmakers originally filed the lawsuit in 2019, saying that the term limits violated the first and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and portions of the Michigan Constitution.
Term limits were introduced after a ballot initiative in 1992 that was passed by nearly 59% of Michigan voters. It limited Michigan State Representatives to three 2-year terms and Michigan Senators to two 4-year terms.
Former lawmakers appeal case seeking to overturn term limits
Ten former lawmakers have asked a federal appellate court to rule Michigan s term limits unconstitutional, appealing a lower court ruling that upheld the decades-old, voter-approved limitations.
Approved by voters in 1992, Michigan s term limits are considered some of the strictest in the country. They limit state lawmakers to serving a total of 14 years across the two legislative chambers three, two-year terms in the House and two, four-year terms in the Senate.
In their appeal filed April 5, the lawmakers asked the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals panel to consider their case in light of U.S. Supreme Court precedent on candidates right to ballot access. The argument, they said, is different from what was used in a failed 1998 case that sought to overturn term limits on the premise that voters had a right to vote for candidates of their choice.
Judge upholds Michigan’s ‘shortest and harshest’ term limits for politicians
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The Michigan State Capitol building in downtown Lansing seen from E. Michigan Ave. on Oct. 17, 2019.Garret Ellison | MLive
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Michigan’s elected officials can’t become “career politicians” within the state Legislature.
A federal judge on Friday issued a ruling upholding Michigan’s term limits for state lawmakers - six years, or three two-year terms for representatives, and eight years, or two four-year terms for senators.
Ten former state legislators recently went to court to challenge those limits, established by a 1992 ballot initiative that embedded the terms in the state Constitution. Nearly 59% of Michigan voters supported the limits at the time.