Tag: Mackinac Center (page 3)

Worth a "like."  Kudos to her, CapCon,and the Mackinac Center for bringing a little more information forward on this important issue to Michigan.

The inability for the Michigan Supreme court to hold government agencies to the freedom of information standards we THOUGHT we had in place as an oversight tool is a bit of a tragedy.  we should have the expectation that ALL correspondence done by our public officials on company time on government owned equipment is not private use. From a release:

State Supreme Court Failure to Rectify Disastrous FOIA Ruling `Must Be Fixed,' Says Center Attorney

Legislature should act swiftly to restore the intent behind Michigan's public disclosure law  

MIDLAND -- In a setback for government transparency, the Michigan Supreme Court yesterday refused again to hear an appeal of a lower court decision that misinterpreted the Freedom of Information Act and now thwarts disclosure of improper activity by public employees. The Mackinac Center and the Michigan Press Association had filed a joint amicus brief seeking to have the state Supreme Court overturn the ruling and uphold the true meaning of the statute.

"In one sense, the Court's decision is unsurprising, since the court rarely grants reconsideration motions," said Patrick Wright, director of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. "On the other hand, the Court of Appeals completely misread the law in a way that will help government officials hide criminal activity -- the exact opposite of FOIA's intent. This ruling must be fixed either by the Legislature or by the Michigan Supreme Court in a future case."

The case was originally filed by citizen-journalist Chetly Zarko in 2007. Zarko, who passed away in 2010, was seeking public-employee emails related to a labor conflict and potential illegal politicking in the Howell School District. The Michigan Education Association subsequently filed a suit to prevent the disclosure. A trial court ruled in Zarko's favor, but the Court of Appeals overturned that decision in a manner that significantly undermined the effectiveness of FOIA, which was enacted post-Watergate to enable the public to ferret out illegal governmental conduct.

In December 2010, the Supreme Court denied leave to appeal the decision in a 4-3 ruling. A reconsideration motion was filed by Zarko's attorneys in January and heard by a court that included two new justices.

"If allowed to stand, this ruling decimates FOIA and cries out for a quick fix," said Wright. "We should not permit state and local governments to hide their criminal activity from those they serve."

The spirit of that type of determination in revealing truth in government shall be missed. It was good for us and truly good for the elected officials in keeping them straight up.

What about Policy?

Kearsey opines:

"The interesting and at the same time sobering thing about this is how SEIU leaders see their members through a strictly partisan political lens. The space that the union used to gauge the strength of its members' partisan leanings are (Are you sorta Republican, really Republican, or really, really Republican?) could just as easily been used to find out how worried their members are about losing their pensions in a state bankruptcy, or whether or not work rules negotiated by the union made prisons safer or a host of other questions having to do with what MCO members really want their union to do."

Start with Jack McHugh of the Mackinac Center, who thinks the DRIC discussion isn't one to embrace with Four Reasons Why the Tea Party Should Ignore Detroit Bridge Controversy

At the Bottoms Up Blog, there is a Tea Party Report from Oceana County's Sunday gathering.  Also a report and pictures from Saturday's affair in Lansing

K-12 School funding suffering at the hands of Snyder?  To give to 'higher education"? A Conservative Teacher thinks so.

Over at The Rougblog, the motor city described as a city governed by the delusional lives in a state of delusion

Traverse City Schools move a meeting to a never used time to avoid public input and objection. Bill at TCFamily.org thinks so as the LBGT agenda moves forward in Northern Michigan.

And if you didn't see the post over at MTTM, a Seriously Condescending Upton Man gets all smart alecky with a constituent.

A spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Human Services today told the Mackinac Center for Public Policy that on March 18 the department will stop withdrawing so-called "union dues" from subsidy checks to home-based day care providers who supply child care services to low-income families. The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed suit against the DHS in 2009 to stop the illegal withdrawals.

The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation assisted provider Sherry Loar in her fight against forced unionization.  The new DHS director (and former Michigan Supreme Court Justice)Maura Corrigan  has said [paraphrased] "those providers are NOT Employees of the state"

Indeed.

Viewable at MTTM or at The Blog Prof.

Free replays will also be available at these locations.

I was not able to make the JAVA applet work here or I would have on RightMichigan.com as well.