Addressing Destruction of Land and Water Titles
Much litigation lies ahead to ensure recognition of proper titles and rights.
Actions Against Local Government Officials and Employees Re: Bottomland Rights and Regulations
Local governments and its officials and employees must never interfere with the legal boundaries, acreages and contents of the original federal government survey. Despite many admonitions of Congress and the United States Supreme Court, local enactment of zoning and police power legislation without jurisdiction denies Michigan residents of their rights. Civil rights suits at the federal level are to be expected.
Two Distinct Areas of Riparian-ism: State vs. Federal
Attorneys in Michigan cite state statutes and case law when faced with what they consider a title and rights issue regarding bottomlands. There is a federal body of law that created our lakes and lands and it is the Supreme Law of the Land. It has been held by the U.S. Supreme Court on many occasions and by Congressional statutes that this federal law is forever. In other words, federal law is superior when it comes to identification of the lands and waters of Michigan. It all happened a couple hundred years ago and is absolutely unchangeable.
I have studied both state and federal bodies of law for years. I know and understand each very well. Since they are opposite each other, no attorney can advocate and practice both. It’s impossible, and it’s an embarrassment. Clients often present issues (and I am empathetic with their positions) which may be correct under state law. However, if I know that such state positions are wrong and fail under federal law, I cannot and do not take those state cases. It is difficult to have to explain to those clients why the two bodies of law so violently conflict and that the supreme law prevails.
Experienced land title attorneys understand this conflict when presented with the facts and law. However, it is a very difficult situation to have to explain to clients that the laws of the state and federal government covering the same subject matter diverge so seriously that it is impossible to advocate both positions as an attorney.
Jurisdiction of Courts and Legislatures to Create Lakes
No courts, federal or state, and no state legislatures can create any additional bodies of water than were created by the federal government in the original survey of our nation following the Revolutionary War. Our state courts and legislature have illegally attempted to create hundred, if not thousands, of them and have caused serious harm to its citizens’ private property titles across this entire state.
Illegal Local Government Zoning and Police Power Over Bottomlands
These areas of wrongful government regulation are ripe for immediate federal civil rights actions.
Navigable State Waters
Do not ever buy or sell without knowing what they are or aren’t.
All Lake Access Matters, Including Public, Subdivision and Keyholing
Public Trust in Michigan Waters
Public Trust concerns the state’s right to regulate lakes, rivers and streams. According to the United States Constitution and Congressional statutes, it extends to water bodies created by the federal survey.