City of Pontiac Retired Employees Ass'n v. Schimmel

The majority remands the case to the district court on the grounds that issues of state law never raised by the parties “could” provide an alternative basis for deciding this case. In doing so, the majority misapplies the constitutional avoidance doctrine, directs the district court to address issues more appropriately left to the Michigan courts, and unjustifiably departs from our well-established principles of appellate review that generally bar this court from deciding issues that are not argued, preserved, or ruled upon by the lower court or tribunal. In my view, only the federal…