Michigan Rights of Way Podcast by Outside Legal Counsel

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 ef...

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, w...

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.

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.

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...

Without warrants, three government officials—a building inspector, a health department agent, and a township zoning administrator—walked onto the Mockeridges’ property, inspected the cabins, and did so without a warrant Their defense? That rural land shouldn’t enjoy the same protections as a city home. They lost. 

What if a simple streak of chalk on your car tire could spark a nationwide constitutional debate? In this episode of Michigan Rights of Way, attorney Philip Ellison unpacks the remarkable case of Taylor v. City of Saginaw—a federal lawsuit from Michigan that transformed a routine parking enforcement tactic into a Fourth Amendment showdown.

In the debut episode of Michigan Rights of Way, attorney Philip Ellison of Outside Legal Counsel (Hemlock, Michigan) makes the case that property rights aren’t just relics of the past—they are the foundation of modern liberty.