New MI laws concerning vehicles and cyclists

In my "you and the law" series, I offer the following update on a fairly new set of Michigan laws that are widely unknown to the general public. They concern cyclists and vehicles.

Governor Snyder signed HB 4198, 4265, and 4185 into law on June 29, 2018. The bills are now Public Acts 277, 279, and 280 of 2018. PA 279 and 280 require motorists to give three feet of space as they pass bicyclists on the roadways.

Can a woman inherit from her husband if they hadn't lived together for 30 years?

Our Michigan Supreme Court listened to oral arguments this last week for a Saginaw woman who is claiming her deceased husbands estate, even though they lived apart for 30 years.

You can find the article here:

https://www.apnews.com/5c65a17b3270452181510627b053d900/Woman-who-didn't-live-with-late-husband-seeks-inheritance

Ding Dong the witch is dead, the wicked witch...

Governor Snyder signs bills to end driver responsibility fees, effective on Oct. 1, 2018

This last week, Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation that ends the dreaded driver responsibility fees and wipes out $637 million in debt owed by nearly 350,000 drivers.  These fees have been attributed by numerous judges throughout the state as "creating a new class of criminals" for those that can't pay them.

Those Driver responsibility fees, ranging from $100 to $2,000, were passed in 2003 to create revenue for the state of Michigan. The fees were charged on top of tickets issued to drivers for everything from multiple speeding tickets, driving with a suspended license, to drunk driving.

Here are the specifics: 

No new driver responsibility fees will be issued and any outstanding debt will be wiped out beginning Oct. 1, 2018.

Drivers who have a CURRENT installment payment plan to pay off their driver responsibility fees and are current with those payments can have their remaining debt wiped out immediately and apply to have their licenses reinstated.

Drivers who aren't on payment plans, or aren't current, can get their licenses reinstated after Oct. 1 and will have the $125 reinstatement fee waived if they apply before Dec. 31, 2018.

If a driver's license has been suspended for four or more years, the driver must successfully complete a written test at the Secretary of State's office and a road skills driving test that is administered by a third party and costs roughly $50.  It is (and will be) a requirement to show pieces of identification revealing the driver has a Social Security number and is a resident of Michigan.

Any other driving fees, such as failure to appear in court on a traffic violation or driving on a suspended license, must be paid before a license can be reinstated.

The Secretary of State has a help line,  888-767-6424, and provides information on the state's website, www.michigan.gov/sos.  The Treasury Department has a help line @517-636-5240 to help drivers learn about the driver responsibility fee changes.

Update: Michigan's Sex Offender Registry opinion out of the Michigan Supreme Court

Earlier this month, the Michigan Supreme Court opinion came out on the case of People v. Temelkoski.  That case was supposed to address the constitutionality of Michigan's Sex Offender Registry and how changes to that registry over the years were applied RETROACTIVELY to persons already serving out or have served out their criminal sentences. 

We had hoped that the court would have opined that increased requirements levied by changes to the law were in fact "punishment" and not just a "civil disability"  (note:  The Federal 6th circuit court of appeals ruled last year that the changes to the law were in fact punishment).  If our court had determined that the increased requirements were punishment, those requirements, if levied on current SORA registrants, would be declared unconstitutional under the EX-POST FACTO clause of our US and Michigan Constitutions.

Unfortunately, the court issued a very narrow opinion, focused only on whether Temelkoski should be required to register under SORA because he was sentenced under a "deferral" program known as HYTA.  The court provided that Temelkoski should have been protected under HYTA and not required to register under SORA.

The court did NOT address whether SORA requirements were punishment or just a civil disability, and in fact referred to SORA as being a civil disability.  After I listened again to the oral arguments from last fall, I believe that the Mich Supreme Court will probably NOT issue an order that addresses whether SORA is a “civil disability” or a “criminal punishment", and the current SORA will remain in Michigan until another case or cases challenges the Michigan law.