Opinion ID: 842726
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: consequences of majority opinion

Text: The separation of powers among our three branches of government is not an afterthought to our constitutional structure. “The framers of Michigan’s Constitution understood well the importance of separating the powers of government.” 46th Circuit Trial Court v Crawford Co, 476 Mich 131, 141; 719 NW2d 553 (2006). “By separating the powers of government, the framers of the Michigan Constitution sought to disperse governmental power and thereby to limit its exercise.” Nat’l Wildlife Federation, supra at 613. With regard to this state’s Separation of Powers Clause, the official proposal at the Constitutional Convention stated: (continued…) it never explains why the LTBB contract should be permitted to prevail over the contract between the people and their government embodied in our constitution. 37 The doctrine of the separation of powers prevents the collection of governmental powers into the hands of 1 man, thus protecting the rights of the people. It is as old as our American governmental system, and was devised by our founding fathers, greatly influenced by the French political theorist, Montesquieu. Desirous of protecting a free people, their idea was that if, somehow, the powers of government could be divided, it could not grow so large as to enslave them. [1 Official Record, Constitutional Convention 1961, at 601.] In equally strong language, former Justice Cooley explained that the separation of powers “operates as a restraint upon such action of the [other branches of government] as might encroach on the rights and liberties of the people, and makes it possible to establish and enforce guaranties against attempts at tyranny.” Cooley, The General Principles of Constitutional Law in the United States of America (Boston: Little, Brown & Co, 1880), p 43. The majority allows the Governor, with the acquiescence of the Legislature, to circumvent the separation of powers principle embedded in Const 1963, art 3, § 2; art 4, § 1; art 5, § 1; and art 6, § 1. The grant of power from the Legislature in this case authorizes the Governor to enter into a contract. By some unexplained alchemy, such contract-- one authorized by constitutionally-designated officials in the legislative branch and one negotiated by a constitutionally-designated official in the executive branch-- is somehow permitted to trump a precedent contract that is part of the constitution. This precedent contract, entered into between “[w]e, the people of the State of Michigan” and its government, “ordain[ed] and establish[ed] this constitution.” Const 1963, Preamble (emphasis added). “[T]his constitution” 38 sets forth an architecture and a process of government instituted for the “equal benefit, security and protection” of the people. Const 1963, art 1, § 1. Governmental officials are to operate within these constraints. Here, the majority allows these officials to act in disregard of constraints placed upon them by the constitution and thereby to impose new obligations upon the people. As a result, a matter of public policy significance-- the nature of Indian gaming within this state-- is exempted from the regular processes of government. Through an improper delegation and exercise of legislative power, the Legislature has been deprived of its future authority to act on behalf of the people in this realm, the people have lost the effective opportunity to “instruct their representatives” in this same realm, Const 1963, art 1, § 3, and communities across the state have had diluted their ability to influence their local representatives in the law-making process in this realm. It is fair to describe the effect of the majority opinion, in conjunction with its opinion in TOMAC I, as the creation of a “casino exception” to representative government. Within the realm of the “casino exception,” government is undertaken by contract rather than by regular constitutional processes, and public policy decisions normally within the contemplation of the legislative process are made by executive branch negotiators rather than by elected legislators. Because of the majority opinion, the LTBB will be allowed to build a second casino in a second Michigan community, unburdened by the involvement 39 of the people’s elected representatives in the Legislature. Perhaps this will prove to be a wise judgment. Perhaps the effect of these casinos-- as well as the effect of an unknown number of future casinos to be established by this same process over the next quarter-century-- will prove salutary. Perhaps the effect of these and later casinos on traffic, the environment and pollution, nearby schools, rural lifestyles, the character of communities, levels of noise, rates of crime, the competitiveness of state and local businesses, the incidence of bankruptcies, and the moral and social fabric of our state will all turn out well. Even if so, however, decisions such as these should be undertaken by the people through their elected representatives and not through the processes of the “casino exception” to representative government. The result of the majority’s approach will be that, in the realm of Indian casinos, the authority of the people will be eroded, local influence will be eroded, and self-government itself will be eroded.