The Michigan attorney general’s office is very busy these days. The state’s position on juvenile life sentences is being questioned before the Michigan Supreme Court; the state’s constitutional amendment banning same sex-marriage and civil unions is being challenged in federal court; and at the same time, the rights of pensioners are being sorted out as Detroit continues to go through bankruptcy.
Attorney General Bill Schuette has been front, center, and vocal in all of these cases.
Joining us to talk about what this all means is Susan Demas, publisher of Inside Michigan Politics, and Ken Sikkema, former Senate Majority Leader and Senior Policy Fellow at Public Sector Consultants.
Correction:
The interview states that Attorney General Bill Schuette ordered county clerks not to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples even if the federal judge rules that the law is unconstitutional. That was incorrect. The following statement was provided by the Attorney General's office:
"After getting some informal requests for guidance from some clerks last fall, our office issued a letter from Chief Deputy Attorney General Carol Isaacs that explained that if the judge ruled against the marriage amendment and the judge issues a stay as the issue continued on appeal, then clerks would have to follow the judge's order for a stay.
That's not the AG's order, it would be the judge's order.
The claim the AG's office instructed clerks to ignore a federal judge is not correct."
Michigan Radio apologizes for the error.
