Can a state legislature force an insurer to cover a loss / risk where it is either not covered by the plain terms of the policy’s coverage provisions, or excluded by the policy’s exclusions and/or endorsements without violating the prohibition found in the United States Constitution against impairment of the obligations of contracts? Article I, [...]
Tag: legislative abrogation
Michigan Supreme Court Issues Opinion Articulating Its Constitutional Limitations and Authority in Changing the Common Law
In Price v. High Pointe Oil Co, Inc., the Michigan Supreme Court provides a clear pronouncement on the constitutional limitations and legitimate authority the judiciary has to change the common law. In doing so, the Court refused to extend as a common-law rule the view that a plaintiff may recover non-economic damages (i.e., mental and emotional [...]
Michigan Supreme Court Holds Non-Economic (Mental Anguish) Damages Are Not Recoverable for Destruction of Property
This case, released on March 22, 2013, holds that the common-law rule is that non-economic damages may not be recovered for destruction of property. The case sets important parameters with respect to the current court's view of when and how the common-law should be adhered to, and how it should go about being changed. This [...]