In a unanimous decision, the 6th District Court of Appeals affirmed the constitutionality of Michigan’s legislative term limits law.
“This ruling is a victory for the people of Michigan and term limits supporters everywhere,” said Scott Tillman, a resident of Grand Rapids who serves as National Field Director for U.S. Term Limits. “It stands for the principle that our legal system will provide no lifeline for sleazy career politicians who are looking to evade term limits. This ruling affirms that enacting term limits is a proper exercise of each citizen’s constitutional rights.”
“In addition, we would like to thank Michigan Attorneys General Frank Kelly, who defended the State’s Constitution in 1998, and Dana Nessel, for their commendable effort in defending the Michigan Constitution,” said economist Patrick Anderson, who worked on the 1992 statewide ballot drive for term limits.
The Michigan Legislature has the shortest term limits in the country: 2 terms (8 years), in the Senate, and 3 terms (6 years), in the House. It also has the 4th highest salary for legislators. It’s no surprise here that the state’s political elite would want to do anything they could to retain power, and their paycheck.
In the opinion, Judge Amal Thapar cited Benjamin Franklin, who argued in favor of term limits at the Constitutional Convention of 1787: “In free governments, the rulers are the servants, and the people their superiors and sovereigns. For the former to return among the latter was not to degrade, but to promote them.”
Thapar added that Michigan voters adopted term limits with a rational basis in mind: “to reduce political careerism and check special interests.” He concluded, “The people of Michigan had the same idea… it’s not our place to second-guess how Michiganders choose to design their state legislature.”
The decision, made by a panel of three judges, a Clinton, Bush, and Trump appointee, substantiates that term limits stand the test of partisanship and time. Michigan’s legislative term limits were placed on the ballot in 1992 via a citizen petition led by Greg Schmid, Patrick Anderson, Kurt O’Keefe and many others from around the state. Nearly 2.3 million citizens voted in favor, passing by a landslide 17.5-point margin.