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An adult sibling has standing to initiate child-protective proceedings against his parents over the care of his minor sister, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled in a published and binding decision.

The plaintiff in this child-custody case is not a “natural parent” under the equitable parent doctrine and did not establish the necessary elements for third-person standing under the Child Custody Act, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.

A probate court erroneously applied the statute of limitations in the Michigan Trust Code to bar the plaintiffs’ challenge to the validity of their mother’s trust, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently released a published opinion holding that the plaintiffs, four self-described "Juggalos" and two members of the band Insane Clown Posse, had standing for their claims against the US Department of Justice and the FBI that they suffered violations of their First and Fifth Amendment rights. Parsons v US Dep't of Justice, Docket No. 14-1848 (September 17, 2015). The Sixth Circuit reversed the District Court's dismissal for lack of standing and remanded for consideration of the defendants' FRCP 12(b)(6) (failure to state a claim) arguments.

The Court of Appeals released a published opinion in People v Sledge, Docket Nos. 324680, 324681 (October 1, 2015), that vacated the Wayne County Circuit Court's gag order in two criminal cases against Sledge, the former Wayne County Chief Financial Officer, and Collins, the Assistant Wayne County Corporation Counsel, regarding the failure of the Wayne County Jail Project, a $300 million budgeted project to build a jail in Detroit, which shut down with only a quarter of the construction completed due to an overrun in costs of $100 million.

The case of Barnes v. Jeudevine came out last summer, but is still worthy of discussion.