No. 129816, 129818, 129822

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129816 - Plaintiffs-Appellants Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos' Brief on Appeal >>
129816 - Plaintiffs-Appellants Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos' Reply Brief>>

129816 / 129822 - Defendant-Appellee State of Michigan's Brief on Appeal>>

129816 - Intervening Defendants/Appellees Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and Gaming      Entertainment (Michigan), LLC's Brief on Appeal>>

129816 - Ken Sikkema, Senate Majority Leader, and Shirley Johnson, Chair of the Senate
    Appropriations Committee's Amici Curiae Brief>>

129816 - Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, and,
    Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians' Amici Curiae Brief>>

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129818 / 129822 - Plaintiffs-Appellees Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos' Brief on Appeal>>
129818 / 129822 - Plaintiffs-Appellees Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos' Brief on Appeal (2) >>

129818 - Defendant-Appellant State of Michigan's Brief on Appeal>>
129818 - Defendant-Appellant State of Michigan's Reply Brief>>

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129822 / 129818 - Plaintiffs-Appellees Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos' Brief on Appeal>>
129822 / 129818 - Plaintiffs-Appellees Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos' Brief on Appeal (2) >>

129822 / 129816 - Defendant-Appellee State of Michigan's Brief on Appeal>>

129822 - Intervening Defendant-Appellant Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians' Brief on Appeal>>
129822 - Intervening Defendant-Appellant Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians' Reply Brief>>

Background

In 1998, the Governor reached an agreement with four Indian tribes on compacts to permit casino gambling on lands the tribes own in a number of western Michigan counties. On December 10, 1998, the House and Senate adopted House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) No. 115 approving the compacts. On June 10, 1999, Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos, a non-profit corporation, and Laura Baird, then a state representative who voted against the compacts, filed a lawsuit in Ingham County Circuit Court. They sought a ruling that the compacts violated the Michigan Constitution. The plaintiffs argued in part that the compacts were legislation that had not been approved in accordance with constitutional requirements, and that the terms of the compacts violated separation of powers. The defendants responded that approving the compacts was not a legislative act because the tribes’ operations are not subject to the Legislature’s control. Similarly, the compacts are not legislative because they are contracts which required the approval of both the state and the tribes, whereas legislation only requires action by the Legislature, the defendants contended. The circuit court disagreed, declaring that HCR 115 was legislation enacted through unconstitutional means and that the terms of the compacts violated separation of powers by giving the Governor unrestricted authority to amend their terms. The Court of Appeals reversed in a published opinion, rejecting the plaintiffs’ challenge to the manner in which the compacts were approved. The court did not rule on the separation-of-powers argument, noting that the Governor had not yet attempted to exercise any power under the amendatory provisions. The plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court which held, in a 2004 opinion, that the compacts were properly approved by the Legislature. The Supreme Court also declined to rule on the separation-of-powers issue. Instead, the Supreme Court remanded the case to the Court of Appeals, noting that, in the year following the Court of Appeals opinion, the Governor had exercised her authority under the compacts’ amendatory provision. As a result, the separation-of-powers issue was now ripe for review in the Court of Appeals. On remand, the Court of Appeals held, in a two-to-one published opinion, that the compacts’ amendatory provision violates the separation of powers clause. The State of Michigan and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians appeal this ruling. The plaintiffs also appeal, arguing that the compacts are unconstitutional appropriations of state funds.

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