The Governor Giveth. Can She Taketh Away?

On Wednesday this week the Michigan Supreme Court hears oral argument in the interesting case of Makowski v Governor, et. al. In 1988, 20-year old Makowski was convicted of felony murder. In 2010, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a formal commutation order, which followed the normal processing until two days after the signing, when the Governor's office, responding to protests from the victim's family, took steps to undo the commutation.  Makowski was not released from prison. In 2011, he sued the governor and secretary of state in Ingham Circuit Court, asserting that the Governor only has authority to commute, not to revoke a commutation.  The Ingham circuit judge said: “This court is of the opinion . . . that it has no authority, i.e. no jurisdiction, to examine and/or approve the exercise by the governor of her constitutional authority to commute a prison sentence.” The Court of Appeals affirmed. You can watch the oral argument Wednesday morning, immediately following the argument in In re Hon. Wade H. McCree, which begins at 9:30.