In a nutshell, the story is that the Michigan Constitution requires that bills wait until the end of the session -- essentially, the end of the calendar year -- plus 90 days before becoming law. You can, however, put a bill into effect immediately, provided you have a two-thirds majority in both chambers. Republicans have that super-majority in the Senate, but not in the House. Yet they appear to have given nearly every bill since they took over in January 2010 immediate effect.

Michigan Republicans have applied immediate effect even to legislation Democrats have opposed in a block, from taking away domestic partner benefits to blocking the expansion of union rights to the souped-up emergency manager law that lets the state replace elected officials with managers who have unilateral control. As you can see in the clip above, the Republican speaker calls for a rising vote, waits a blink, and then gavels in his party's super-majority.

Michigan Democrats have begun using their numbers to demand a record roll call vote, as a means of trying to make Republicans prove they have the super-majorities they claim to have. They say Republicans are denying them roll call votes, and last week, they sued the House (and specifically Republican House leadership) over it. On Monday, a county judge ruled for the Democrats. Issuing a temporary injunction, he ordered the House leadership to grant the roll call votes; he also put on hold several recent bills passed improperly.

The Michigan Court of Appeals may rule today in a dispute about how State House Republicans are passing bills...

Ari Adler is a spokesman for State House Speaker Jase Bolger. He says it’s the judge who’s overstepping his constitutional authority by interfering with the internal rules of the legislature.

“It is not a question of constitutionality of what we’ve done because the (Michigan) constitution clearly says you need two/thirds…it does not indicate how the House will operate day-to-day…that falls to House rules," Adler says, noting also that Democrats have often used the same legislative maneuver when they’ve been in the majority.

Hmm, without really diving into this I'd have to say that the Michigan courts might not have jurisdiction to order the legislature to follow or amend its own rules of procedure.

That would depend on what the Michigan Constitution says I suppose.

On the one hand, I'm shocked and appalled. On the other, I'm intrigued. When the legislature ignores the Constitution, what's the proper recourse? The rules can't negate the Constitution, but the Republican leadership is saying the Court doesn't have jurisdiction. Of course they say that -- do they believe it?