New Michigan Supreme Court rules may be unconstitutional

Matthew Schneider, visiting professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, writing in The Detroit News: “On Nov. 25, the high court, in a 4-3 vote led by the court’s liberal wing, changed its rules on when justices should be banned from deciding cases . . . The new rule still allows justices to decide for themselves when to step off a case. But if a justice decides not to step down, the entire Supreme Court can second-guess the justice’s decision and kick him or her off the case. The old rule took effect when the justice was in fact biased, but the new rule forces a justice off when he merely appears biased in the eyes of a majority of four other justices.”