Some major decisions are expected Wednesday before the Michigan Supreme Court wraps up its current session.
Among the outstanding questions are whether the state owes gyms, bowling alleys, and recreation centers compensation for losses due to COVID shutdown orders.
In another pending case, students sued Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Lake Superior State universities demanding refunds of tuition, room and board, and other fees after in-person classes were canceled and moved online due to COVID. The universities argue they kept up their end of the bargain and provided an education under difficult circumstances.
There is also a decision pending on a political controversy dating back to 2018 when Republicans controlled the state Legislature. GOP leaders held votes to adopt petition initiatives to increase the state minimum wage and to require most employers to provide paid employee sick leave — instead of letting the questions go to the ballot.
The petition campaigns say the Legislature violated the Michigan Constitution by taking the questions up after the election and voted along party lines to dilute the initiatives to make them more business friendly. If the questions were adopted by voters, what the Legislature did would have required supermajorities in the Legislature.
Separately, the court delayed a decision and asked for more briefs in a case on whether sneakers can be considered a dangerous weapon in an assault prosecution.
