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.
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Citizens excluded from serving on Michigan’s independent redistricting commission argued before an appeals panel that the state cannot draw arbitrary lines between levels of partisan activity to preclude eligibility.
An election worker helps a voter with his ballot in Lansing, Mich., on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020 (AP Photo/Matthew Dae Smith via Lansing State Journal)
CINCINNATI (CN) A group of Michigan citizens deemed ineligible for positions on a redistricting commission and the state’s Republican Party argued on Wednesday that eligibility criteria designed to reduce partisanship among committee members violate their constitutional rights.
The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit came before the Sixth Circuit for a second time, after an interlocutory appeal was rejected in April 2020.
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Judge upholds Michigan’s ‘shortest and harshest’ term limits for politicians
Updated Jan 26, 2021;
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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.