Opinion ID: 848681
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Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Michigan's Use of Private Attorneys General

Text: When interpreting the Constitution, we give its words their common understanding. We assume that they were not intended to have elaborate shades of meaning or to require, in order to be understood, the exercise of philosophical acuteness or judicial research. Michigan Farm Bureau v. Secretary of State, 379 Mich. 387, 391, 151 N.W.2d 797 (1967), quoting 1 Story, Constitution (5th ed.), § 451, p. 345. We are mindful that the people expect and are entitled that their constitutional rights not be hobbled by the courts. With regard to art. 4, § 52, the people may reasonably depend that the courts will not thwart the Legislature's efforts to fulfill its mandate to protect our public's trust in Michigan's natural resources. We must not import requirements for access to the courts that are not founded on our Constitution. Yet the majority has created one such requirement by adopting the Lujan case and controversy rule. Before Lee, other provisions in our state Constitution allowed suits to be brought in state courts by parties who do not satisfy the Lujan requirements. For example, art. 11, § 5 allows any citizen to seek an injunction to enforce its provisions. The Headlee Amendment states,  Any taxpayer of the state shall have standing to bring suit in the Michigan Court of Appeals to enforce sections 25 through 31 [3] of article 9. Const. 1963, art. 9, § 32 (emphasis added). This Court may issue advisory opinions. [4] A particularized injury need not be demonstrated in order to sustain suits under these provisions. See In re Request for Advisory Opinion on Constitutionality of 1997 Pa. 108, 402 Mich. 83, 260 N.W.2d 436 (1977). [5] And citizens' suits have long been accepted in our jurisprudence. They, along with other actions brought by a person who lacks an individualized injury, were known to the framers of the federal constitution. They existed in the legal practice in the United States and England when the federal constitution was written. Individuals were allowed, also, to bring suits for writs of quo warranto and mandamus. Sunstein, What's Standing After Lujan? Of Citizens Suits, Injuries, and Article III, 91 Mich. L. R. 163, 170 (1992). Individuals were allowed, also, to bring mandamus actions in the states. See Sunstein at 171. See also Union Pacific Railroad v. Hall, 91 U.S. 343, 23 L.Ed. 428 (1875). In England, suits by individuals, private attorneys general, could be brought under the informers' action and the relator action. In the informers' action, cash bounties were awarded to strangers who successfully prosecuted illegal conduct. In relator actions, suits would be brought formally in the name of the Attorney General, but at the instance of a private person, often a stranger. [Sunstein at 172.] Merely because the framers of our state Constitution created a tripartite government like the federal government, it does not follow that they intended to eliminate actions by private attorneys general. The Separation of Powers Argument The state separation of powers doctrine reads simply: The powers of government are divided into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. No person exercising powers of one branch shall exercise powers properly belonging to another branch except as expressly provided in this constitution.[ [6] ] [Const. 1963, art. 3, § 2.] It has been understood that this provision is not to be applied in an overly rigid fashion. Some overlap is acknowledged to exist in the functioning of the various branches. The state Constitution permits it. For instance, a civil rights commission within the executive branch is vested with some lawmaking power. Const. 1963, art. 5, § 29. Article 4, § 33 provides the Governor with veto power over legislation, and art. 11, § 7 provides the Legislature with impeachment authority. Indeed, any grant of legislative powers to executive agencies would be unconstitutional per se if some overlap between the branches of government were not permissible. See JW Hampton, Jr., & Co. v. United States, 276 U.S. 394, 48 S.Ct. 348, 72 L.Ed. 624 (1928). The courts, also, have recognized that the separation of powers doctrine allows limited overlap and interaction between the branches. Soap & Detergent Ass'n v. Natural Resources Comm., 415 Mich. 728, 752, 330 N.W.2d 346 (1982). See also Judicial Attorneys Ass'n v. Michigan, 459 Mich. 291, 315-316, 586 N.W.2d 894 (1998) (Taylor, J., dissenting), citing the Court of Appeals dissent of Judge Markman. Accordingly, when one branch exercises its power, it may overlap the exercise of power belonging to another branch. For example, the executive branch may utilize hearing officers to attempt to resolve disputes. The Judiciary may review the decisions of those hearing officers, although doing so may appear to infringe on the executive branch's exercise of its power to administer the law. [7] The majority in Lee applied the federal separation of powers and standing doctrines to the state and created a mandatory particularized injury requirement for standing. This requirement is not found in the text of either the federal or state constitutions. To exist, it had to be gleaned from the historical context of the constitutions. However, a plumbing of that context reveals no support for a belief that a person must show a particularized injury before gaining standing in order to bring a citizens' suit. See p. 842. Even though the federal separation of powers doctrine has been found to require a particularized injury for standing in federal courts, it does not follow that the same rule applies in Michigan. Our state's courts are not identical to our federal courts. They are part of a government having broader powers and broader jurisdiction than the federal government and having judges who are selected by the people. Although the state and federal governments are similarly structured, the scope of the powers of their respective branches is different. That is because the natures of the two governments are inherently different. The federal government is one of enumerated powers. The states retain any powers not expressly ceded to the federal government. U.S. Const., Am. X. State sovereignty to address any social problem that threatens the public welfare is plenary. Washington-Detroit Theatre Co. v. Moore, 249 Mich. 673, 680, 229 N.W. 618 (1930). Michigan's Constitution, like that of many other states, [8] includes detailed substantive social and economic provisions. See, e.g., articles 8-10 on Education, Finance and Taxation, and Property. Accordingly, the power of the state's judiciary is plenary as well, and Michigan's courts have general, broad subject-matter jurisdiction. Const. 1963, art. 6, § 1. See MCL 600.775. By contrast, the jurisdiction of federal courts [9] is limited. For instance, a federal case must arise under a federal question or the parties must have diversity of citizenship. Federal judicial power is limited to cases and controversies, a fundamental restriction. Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 750, 104 S.Ct. 3315, 82 L.Ed.2d 556 (1984). Contrary to the majority's assertion, [10] I do not argue that this restriction defines the judicial power. Instead, it limits federal courts' utilization of the judicial power to certain disputes. By contrast, the judicial power inherent in Michigan's courts may be applied under a wider range of circumstances. The federal standing and separation of powers doctrines adopted by Lee from Lujan are predicated in part also on the fact that federal judges are not directly accountable to the people. United States v. Richardson, 418 U.S. 166, 180, 94 S.Ct. 2940, 41 L.Ed.2d 678 (1974) (Powell, J., concurring ). Federal judges are appointed by the President [11] and may be removed only by impeachment. [12] By contrast, our state judges are elected by the people. [13] The United States Supreme Court has recognized that access to state courts is not limited by the federal constitution. ASARCO, Inc. v. Kadish, 490 U.S. 605, 616-617, 109 S.Ct. 2037, 104 L.Ed.2d 696 (1989). Everything considered, it is not surprising that the qualifications for standing in state courts are broader than in federal courts. Other states have determined that their judicial power is not constrained by the federal model. For example, Indiana has held: While Article III of the United States Constitution limits the jurisdiction of federal courts to actual cases and controversies, the Indiana Constitution does not contain any similar restraint. Thus, although moot cases are usually dismissed, Indiana courts have long recognized ... an exception to the general rule when the case involves questions of great public interest. [ In re Lawrance, 579 N.E.2d 32, 37 (Ind., 1991).] Similarly, Minnesota has recognized that federal standing concerns historically have been related to whether a dispute brought for adjudication is in an adversary context and is capable of judicial resolution. However, when standing has been conferred by a state statute, there is no constitutional basis for imposing a more stringent standing requirement [than that] which is set by the governing statute. Minnesota Pub. Interest Research Group v. Minnesota Dep't of Labor & Industry, 311 Minn. 65, 73, 249 N.W.2d 437 (1976) citing Ass'n of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 151, 90 S.Ct. 827, 25 L.Ed.2d 184 (1970). See also Dep't of Revenue v. Kuhnlein, 646 So.2d 717 (Fla., 1994), Chester Co. Housing Auth. v. Pennsylvania State Civil Service Comm., 556 Pa. 621, 730 A.2d 935 (1999), In Life of the Land v. Land Use Comm., 63 Haw. 166, 623 P.2d 431 (1981), and Sears v. Hull, 192 Ariz. 65, 961 P.2d 1013 (1998). Of course, this is not to say that, before Lee, Michigan was without standing requirements. Simply, they were more encompassing than the federal requirements. To have standing in Michigan courts, a person had to show the existence of a dispute over a legal right. Daniels v. People, 6 Mich. 381, 388 (1859). See Sunstein at 170. The necessary showing did not need to rise to the level of a case or controversy. [14] Our state has relied on other requirements which also serve to ensure that standing is not too broadly applied. For example, the ripeness requirement ensures that a claim has actually arisen and that it has not been negated. Obenauer v. Solomon, 151 Mich. 570, 115 N.W. 696 (1908). The requirement that the case not be moot ensures that it does not present a purely abstract question and that only actual disputes are litigated. East Grand Rapids School Dist. v. Kent Co. Tax Allocation Bd., 415 Mich. 381, 390, 330 N.W.2d 7 (1982). See p. 845 ff. I believe that our state's standing provisions before Lee sufficiently ensured that judicial power was properly constrained while allowing vigorously pursued suits to proceed. The decision in Lee wrongly blocked access to our state's courts. Hence, contrary to the majority's assertion, Lee's standing requirements are not essential to prevent the judicial branch from overpowering the legislative branch and the executive branch.