Michigan

Michigan is seeking a waiver from the Obama administration to expand Medicaid to another 600,000 low-income adults, the Associated Press reports. Unde the waiver request, "adults who have been enrolled for four years would have to buy private insurance through a government health exchange or pay higher copays and contribute more to health savings accounts."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has struck down a ban in Michigan on outdoor charity collection bins, the Michigan Radio Newsroom's Virginia Gordon reports. The appellate court ruled that the ban likely violates the free speech rights of Planet Aid.

A bill is being proposed in Nevada that would place privacy restrictions on the use of drones, the Associated Press' Riley Snyder reports: the bill "would limit how police can use drones in investigations and require the state's public safety department to keep a public listing of all drones used by state agencies. The bill also criminalizes using a drone to take a clandestine photo of a person in a private setting and sets certain trespassing rules for drones flying under 250 feet."

In the Midwest, the Michigan House has approved a bill to prohibit the use of drones for hunting, and Wisconsin lawmakers held a hearing this week on further regulations for drones, the AP reports. Wisconsin already banned drones that are capable of videorecording from flying in areas where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

When Richard Bernstein joins the Michigan Supreme Court in a few days, he will make history as the first blind justice in that state and one of the few judges with visual impairments in the country, Associated Press reports. Bernstein is having briefs for mid-January arguments read to him by an aide and memorizing the key points. He told the AP he internalizes "'the cases word for word, pretty much commit them primarily by memory. I'm asking the reader to pinpoint certain things, read footnotes, look at the legislative record."'

Bernstein, whose family has a personal-injury firm, spent $1.8 million of his own money to campaign for the Supreme Court on the slogan "Blind Justice."

After a federal judge struck down Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage last week, 100 couples who wed in the 24 hours or so after the decision are now in legal limbo, the Detroit Free Press reports. The Sixth Circuit issued an order late on Saturday to stay the lower court ruling declaring the ban unconstitutional.  An estimated 300 same-sex marriage licenses were issued in Michigan. And the state also has not decided if it will recognize marital rights for same-sex couples who wed.

"Dan Ray, a constitutional law professor at Thomas Cooley Law School, said the marriages that were performed before the stay was issued are valid," the Free Press further reports.

The Detroit Free Press reports on the close of the trial in which plaintiffs are challenging Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage. During closing arguments, the plaintiffs' attorney said, "The right to marry is a fundamental right. It should apply regardless of sexual orientation," the Free Press further reports. The defense attorney for the state of Michigan argued that the Michigan voters had decided the issue, and the case "is about science, data, what's best for children," the Free Press also reports. The plaintiffs want to marry and adopt each other's children.

The Detroit Free Press reports on the end nearing in a trial over Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage. Closing arguments are slated for today. The trial has focused on "child outcomes of same-sex parenting," the Free Press also reports.

A challenge to Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage and on joint adoption by same-sex couples is going to a bench trial this week, the Detroit Free Press reports: "A key issue in this trial will be whether children raised by same-sex parents fare better or worse in life than children raised by heterosexual parents — or whether there’s no difference in their well-being." The plaintiffs argue that even under the lowest level of constitutional scrutiny, rational basis, that there is no reason to deny them the right to get married and adopt children, the Free Press further reports.

The Guardian reports on U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments today in a case in which the state of Michigan argues that the Bay Mills Indian Community inappropriately opened an off-reservation casino without authorization of the federal government and in violation of a state agreement. Some of the justices took a skeptical view of the position that tribal sovereignity gives extra protection against closing the casino or other action by Michigan. Justice Stephen Breyer, for one, said, "My belief is Indian tribes all over the country, operate businesses off the reservation, and businesses all over the country are regulated. And does the State, I guess, in your view not have the power to enforce the regulation against the Indian tribe?" The Guardian reported.

The Detroit Free Press reports on Gov. Rick Snyder's historic testimony in a federal  court trial over whether Detroit qualifies for bankruptcy. Snyder testified that he "knew that he had the power to make Detroit’s bankruptcy filing contingent on protecting pensions — but he chose not to exercise it and impede efforts to fix the beleaguered city," the newspaper reports.

The Free Press also reports: "The Michigan Constitution protects public pensions as a 'contractual obligation' that cannot be 'diminished or impaired,' but federal bankruptcy law allows contracts to be severed."

Snyder is going to testify again today.