Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed a last-ditch federal lawsuit Thursday in an effort to get his name off Michigan’s presidential ballot. That’s as local clerks are already finalizing ballots for printing.

Kennedy exhausted his appeals in Michigan courts before turning now to federal courts — even though the state’s legal deadline to get ballots to printers is passed. Angela Benander, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, told the Michigan Public Radio Network the filing will not change current plans.

“Clerks are currently in the process of printing ballots to ensure absentee ballots will be delivered to voters by the federal deadlines,” said Benander. She said those deadlines ensure absentee ballots are in the mail to overseas and military voters in time for them to be returned and counted.

The Michigan Supreme Court on Monday held Kennedy’s name would remain on the ballot, which settled the matter in state courts.

Kennedy has had mixed results in having his name stricken from ballots in states where he has already qualified. He suspended his campaign last month and endorsed former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

Michigan Secretary of State said Kennedy waited until it was too late to withdraw as the nominee of the Natural Law Party of Michigan. Kennedy sought and accepted the minor party nomination as a way to get on the Michigan ballot. Withdrawing now would leave the party without a presidential candidate.

But in the lawsuit filed Monday with the U.S. District Court for Michigan’s eastern district, Kennedy argued the state is violating his constitutional freedom of speech and freedom of association rights.

“Keeping Mr. Kennedy off the ballot will also cause no harm to the public,” said Kennedy’s filing. “Conversely, leaving Mr. Kennedy’s name will serve only to mislead voters, upend election and ballot integrity…”

In the filing, Kennedy also complained that he is being held to a different standard than President Joe Biden, who exited the presidential race on July 21 and cleared the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to be nominated.

But there is a critical distinction. Biden was in the race and the presumptive nominee prior to stepping aside. But he was never formally nominated and, thus, never accepted the nomination.

Harris was waiting in the wings when Biden withdrew his name from consideration following a disastrous debate performance against Trump. She was formally nominated by the Democratic National Convention on August 6th, which placed her on Michigan’s ballot.

The state will now have an opportunity to respond to Kennedy’s lawsuit and motion to remove his name. But the court does not have to accept the case or take any other action.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Independent presidential candidate Cornel West must appear on the ballot in the battleground state of Michigan, a judge ruled about a week after West was disqualified.

Court of Claims Judge James Robert Redford wrote in a decision released Saturday that West’s campaign submitted the proper number of signatures to qualify for the ballot and that presidential candidates are not required to file affidavits of identity. The ruling came after the Michigan Bureau of Elections informed West on Aug. 16 that he would not be certified because the affidavit of identity he submitted was not properly notarized.

Redford also rejected the state’s findings that West’s affidavit was incorrectly notarized.

West, a leftist academic, progressive activist and long-shot presidential candidate, is at the center of multiple legal and political battles as Democrats and Republicans seek to use the impacts of third-party candidates who could take support from their opponents. Republican allies in states such as Arizona have sought to keep West on the ballot amid Democratic fears he could siphon votes from Vice President Kamala Harris.

In Michigan, the state Democratic Party, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and a voter backed by a Democratic-aligned political action committee had challenged West’s candidacy.

Benson’s office plans to appeal Redford’s decision, a spokesperson said.

West’s campaign called the opinion a “decisive victory for democratic principles and voter choice.”

“We are grateful for this affirmation and promise to continue championing the rights of all voters,” West said in a statement.

The Michigan court opinion came a day after West lost a legal challenge to appear on the Pennsylvania ballot. It also came one day after third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent campaign for the White House and endorsed Republican Donald Trump.

Story by Isabella Volmert, Associated Press

A lawsuit over the Line 5 petroleum pipeline that runs through the Straits of Mackinac will be heard in Michigan courts.

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Friday shot down an effort from the pipeline’s owner to keep the case before federal judges.

Sean McBrearty, director for the Michigan branch of the environmental group Clean Water Action, said he believes this settles a years-long back-and-forth about whether the case belongs in state or federal court.

“These are critical issues that need to be heard in our Michigan courts, not in a federal court, which, frankly, just doesn’t have the right kind of jurisdiction or understanding around these particular state law issues,” he said.

Earlier this summer, the federal appellate court judges remanded the case back to Michigan’s 30th Circuit Court in Ingham County. But Enbridge, the Canada-based company that owns Line 5, had requested a rehearing before the entire U.S. Court of Appeals.

Friday’s denial closes the door on that happening.

“We are disappointed that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has denied our petition for rehearing. Enbridge believes that the case should remain in federal court given the clear and substantial questions of federal law raised by the Attorney General’s complaint,” Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said in a written statement.

The case first arose in 2019, when Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel moved to shut down Line 5. In 2020, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer launched her own action to shut down the pipeline.

Enbridge succeeded in moving the Nessel case to federal court, where Whitmer voluntarily withdrew her complaint, leaving the case with the state attorney general’s office.

But Enbridge is countersuing, asking the federal court in that case for a blanket ruling in its favor, arguing for a summary judgment to dismiss the case.

The company said it believes it would be wrong for a state court to rule before that motion gets decided.

“If the federal district court rules in Enbridge’s favor on the summary judgement motion, that ruling should fully resolve the Attorney General’s action,” part of Duffy’s statement read.

Nessel’s office, however, said it’s an important matter for the state to decide.

“It is a critical responsibility of the state to protect our Great Lakes from the threat of pollution. Our state claims, brought under our state law, will continue to be heard in a state court, and I am grateful we are one step closer to resolving this case on behalf of the state of Michigan,” Nessel said in a press release.

Enbridge said the dispute belongs in federal court because the line is under the jurisdiction of both federal regulators and international agreements.

“The Attorney General seeks to shutdown Line 5 based on perceived safety concerns, but Line 5’s safety is exclusively regulated by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Every year PHMSA reviews the safety compliance of Line 5 across the Straits of Mackinac,” Duffy’s statement said.

Line 5’s unimpeded operation is also protected by the bi-lateral 1977 Transit Treaty entered between the United States and Canada. In Enbridge’s view, these federal issues should have weighed in favor of the case remaining in federal court. Even though the Attorney General’s case has been remanded to Michigan state court, Enbridge remains confident that the dispute should be fully resolved by the pending summary judgment motion in Enbridge’s separate lawsuit in Enbridge v. Whitmer,” the statement continued.

The man accused of killing Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll could face a new trial on two charges.

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Last week, a jury found Detroit resident Michael Jackson-Bolanos not guilty of first-degree murder and guilty of lying to police officers in relation to Woll’s brutal murder last fall. However, the jury was unable to reach a consensus on the felony murder and home invasion charges.

A pre-trial hearing was held Thursday before Wayne County Circuit Judge Margaret Van Houten, as prosecutors consider whether to re-try Jackson-Bolanos for the two outstanding charges.

Defense attorneys for Jackson-Bolanos filed a motion to dismiss the charges on Wednesday, and prosecutors requested time to review the motion during Thursday’s hearing.

“Given the court’s schedule and given the nature of the motion, it does deserve some time to give a response and for the court to do its own research as well,” Van Houten said during the hearing on Thursday.

The judge asked prosecutors to file a response to the motion by Aug. 2, with a hearing on the motion to dismiss set for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 9. Jackson-Bolanos will be sentenced for the lying to police officers count that same day.

Defense attorney Brian Brown asked Van Houten if she’d be willing to entertain bond for his client, which she declined. As a habitual offender, Jackson-Bolanos faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison for the lying to police officers conviction.

Defense lawyer Purna Krishnamoorthy launched a petition drive on Monday asking prosecutors to drop the remaining charges against her client and let him out of jail, which has amassed nearly 600 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

Other headlines for Thursday, July 25, 2024:

• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill this week that will prohibit criminal defense attorneys from using a victims sexual orientation or gender identity as a defense argument.
• Detroit Public Schools Community District is creating the Social Studies Student Think Tank to collect opinions on how the school system can create more representative course materials.  
• Detroit Soccer Group BlackStar is partnering with Detroit City Football Club to host a variety of on-field events for players ages 7-18 this weekend.
• Ethiopian food pop-up Konjo Me is hosting an immersive Ethiopian cooking class at Café Prince in Core City on August 3. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.