Court Opinion

ID: 9742592
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:16:35.0546+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:33.998998
License: Public Domain

T. E. Brennan, «J.
(dissenting). I do not accept my Brother’s analysis of the constitutional role of the Civil Rights Commission.
The commission is not a branch of government. Although it derives its power from the Constitution, it is still a commission, and propérly an arm of the executive branch of government.
It is a constitutional cbmmission, not unlike the State Highway Commission (art 5, §28) or the State Civil Service Commission (art 11, § 5).
The Civil Rights Commission is not a court. It has no in personam jurisdiction over citizens. It may compel the attendance of witnesses only through the aid of a court of competent jurisdiction. Its final orders do not rise to the dignity of writs; that is to say, the commission has no power to direct the sheriff or other law enforcement officer to carry out its orders.
Ultimate enforcement of commission orders requires application to a circuit court. In such case, the commission may appear in circuit court as a litigant, urging that the judicial power of the state be used to accomplish the end sought to be achieved by the commission.
The framers of the Constitution clearly intended that the Civil Rights Commission would act as an advocate for the enforcement and protection of the civil rights of Michigan residents.
But, it must be kept in mind that the Civil Rights Commission exists for the protection of civil *730rights. Civil rights are those rights which are recognized by law, and cognizable by courts.
Therefore, when the Legislature provides for removal of a given dispute to circuit court, it does not limit or restrict the Civil Rights Commission in any way.
The power of the circuit court to adjudge the guilt or innocence of an accused does not conflict with or infringe upon the power of the prosecuting attorney to investigate crimes or prosecute criminals.
Similarly, the power of the courts to adjudicate civil rights does not infringe upon the power and duty of the Civil Rights Commission to secure such rights or investigate claimed infringements thereon.
It may be true that the Civil Rights Commission can accomplish more by investigation than by litigation, just as it may be that a prosecuting attorney can accomplish more by the threat of prosecution than by the prosecution itself.
But, such a state of affairs is not only irregular, it is a denial of civil rights.
A man may indeed do more than the law requires as a means of avoiding the expense and inconvenience of litigation, but it is unthinkable that any public agency should be empowered or permitted to use its investigatory powers as a form of coercion to achieve results which could not be commanded by a court.
The final paragraph of Const 1963, art 5, §29, says:
"Appeals from final orders of the commission, including cease and desist orders and refusals to issue complaints, shall be tried de novo before the circuit court having jurisdiction provided by law.”
*731Since, by constitutional mandate, any matter considered by the commission must be relitigated in circuit court upon the option of the respondent, I see no harm whatever in permitting such aggrieved party the right to accelerate his appeal by a legislatively approved process of removal.
I would affirm.