Michigan Rights of Way Podcast by Outside Legal Counsel

Episode 8 - The Propane Tax That Wasn't: How Two Little Words Could Undo Millions in Hidden Fees

This episode of Michigan Rights of Way unpacks the controversy over Michigan’s Propane Commission Act and the hidden assessment quietly added to every gallon of propane sold in the state. By law, the assessment required approval by a majority of all retail propane marketers. But when only 49 of 119 said yes, the referendum failed. The Commission and the state declared victory anyway — and began effectively collecting millions from consumers. Now on appeal, the case asks a simple but powerful question: do limiting words in a statute still mean what they say? This fight isn’t about pennies at the pump — it’s about statutory construction, separation of powers, and protecting the rule of law.

Episode 7 - Higgins Lake, Public Act 112, and the Fight for Due Process

On this episode of Michigan Rights of Way, Attorney Philip Ellison of Outside Legal Counsel in Hemlock, Michigan takes listeners to the shores of Higgins Lake, where a dispute over water levels turned into a constitutional fight. At stake is Public Act 112 of 2024, a law that retroactively rewrote decades-old court orders and stripped riparian property owners of vested rights — without hearings, without notice, and without due process. Philip explains how lake levels are set under Michigan law, why property owners fought for a federal appeal, and what this case means for due process protections far beyond one lake in Roscommon County. If legislatures can erase court orders with the stroke of a pen, what property rights are truly safe? This episode connects local land-use struggles with fundamental constitutional principles, showing why Higgins Lake may become a bellwether for property rights across Michigan.

Episode 6 - The Missing 35th District Senator: Representation Delayed

Earlier this year, Michigan’s 35th Senate District lost its senator when the seat became vacant. Under the state constitution, the people of that district are entitled to representation. But months passed, and no special election was called. This involves a different kind of property right - one that connects directly to civil rights. And that’s the right to representation.

Episode 5 - Open Fields, Closed Rights: Michigan’s DNR and the Fourth Amendment

There is an issue that has been bubbling for decades but is now squarely in the spotlight at our state Capitol: the so-called “open fields doctrine” and how the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is using it to sidestep the Fourth Amendment.

Episode 4 - Tax Foreclosures, Home Equity, and the Fifth Amendment: Michigan's Freed and Pung Cases

For decades, Michigan operated one of the harshest property tax foreclosure systems in the country. Homeowners who fell behind on even small tax debts risked not only losing their homes but also every dollar of equity they had built up. Counties would foreclose, sell the property at auction, and keep the entire sale price—often tens of thousands of dollars more than what was owed. At stake is not just two family’s equity, but the meaning of “just compensation” itself.