Len Niehoff is Professor from Practice at the University of Michigan Law School, where he teaches courses in civil procedure, ethics, evidence, First Amendment, law & theology, and media law. He writes regularly in all of these fields. He is also Of Counsel to the Honigman law firm. The opinions expressed here are his own.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

So Sue Me

My Civil Procedure students sometimes struggle, for understandable reasons, with the idea that some individuals and entities go out of their way to participate in lawsuits--as defendants. A clear and concise NPR story this morning describes how this is playing out in connection with the challenge to the constitutionality of California's Prop 8. The case raises an intriguing question: if the Governor thinks a law is unconstitutional, and the Attorney General agrees, then who, if anyone, has standing to defend the law?