Yet, curiously, a prior felony record does not disqualify a candidate from running for, and keeping, a local or state elected office:

"Any candidate for public office in this state or holder of public office in this state, convicted of a felony during candidacy or during term of office, may be removed from office and office becomes vacant upon proof of conviction, but prior conviction for a felony does not operate to disqualify a person from being a candidate for office or from being elected or appointed thereto nor constitute grounds for removal therefrom." Op Atty Gen, December 2, 1955, No. 2393.

This interpretation of Michigan law was most recently re-affirmed in a 1996 Michigan Attorney General Opinion.

Thus, the upshot is that even if Kevorkian loses his planned Congressional bid (which he will, of course), there's nothing to stop this whack job from running for, say, governor of Michigan in 2010.    

This is wrong.  As we all know, successfully amending the federal Constitution is like this year's Obama - Clinton Democratic presidential nomination fight: a slow, nasty drawn-out process that takes just about forever.  

But changing Michigan law to bar felons from running for, and obtaining, state and local office can be, and should be, done.  This is not to say that all felons should necessarily be disqualified.  But common sense would dictate that those individuals previously convicted of murder, at the very least, should be prevented from garnering publicity for themselves - or their bizarre causes - through the imposition of more stringent candidate qualifications.

At least, though, Michigan does currently attempt to limit felons from exercising some rights enjoyed by the rest of the non-criminal public. For example, MCL 750.227b makes it difficult for a felon to possess a firearm (for good reason!). Unsurprisingly, this rather mild limitation on the rights of felons seems to matter little to Kevorkian, who is currently ineligible to possess a firearm due to his probation status.  Two months ago, Kevorkian told a pro-euthanasia Florida audience, "You should be able to carry an Uzi down the street if you aren't threatening someone."  See:  http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2008/01/dr_jack_kevorkian_cheered_pick.html

Of course, Kevorkian's idea of "threatening someone" is probably a lot different from that of most normal people.  After all, this so-called physician ran around the country with a self-built suicide-machine in the back of his van looking for vulnerable people to victimize in wild-eyed pursuit of "his cause."  I'm sure in his own twisted mind Kevorkian didn't see himself as threatening anybody with his actions.  

Personally, I think it is a good idea to keep Uzis and the like out of the hands of convicted murderers like Kevorkian.

I also think it is a good idea to keep convicted murderers like Kevorkian from making a mockery out of our political system by running for office - be that at the federal, state, or local level.  While we cannot stop Kevorkian from running for Congress any time soon, we can urge a change in state law so that he cannot run for any state or local offices in the near future.  

Either that, or hope that Kevorkian's new-found love of Uzis sends him back to prison to rot as a felon in possession of a firearm.  

About the author: Andrew Shirvell, Esq., is a pro-life citizen activist who writes a weekly column that is published every Thursday for RightMichigan.com in which he focuses upon Michigan pro-life issues. Shirvell attended Ave Maria School of Law - Ann Arbor, where he served as president of the school's Bioethics Society, from 2004-2005.  He also served as president of Students for Life at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, from 2000-2002.