Supreme Court Lacks Jurisdiction to Issue Advisory Opinion on Aid to Private Schools – Fix the mitten

After signing the bill, Snyder asked the Michigan Supreme Court to issue an advisory opinion on the constitutionality of Section 152b in accordance withArticle 3, Section 8 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963, which provides:

       Either house of the legislature or the governor may request the opinion of the supreme court on important questions of law upon solemn occasions as to the constitutionality of legislation after it has been enacted into law but before its effective date.

Now read that again.  Do you see those words “before its effective date”?  Public Act 249 of 2016 was given immediate effect, and therefore became effective immediately upon being signed by the Governor on June 27, 2016.  Snyder waited until after the bill’s effective date to request an advisory opinion from the Michigan Supreme Court.  In other words, Snyder’s request was untimely.  For this reason, the Michigan Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to grant Snyder’s request or issue an advisory opinion on the constitutionality of the act.  See In re Request for Advisory Opinion Regarding Constitutionality of 2005 PA 71, 479 Mich 1, 12-13; 740 NW2d 444 (2005).
 
That isn’t the end of the story, though.

Read the full Fix the Mitten blog post here:
http://www.fixthemitten.com/blog/supreme-court-lacks-jurisdiction-to-issue-advisory-opinion-on-aid-to-private-schools