Patrick J. Wright, Senior Legal Analyst [Mackinac Center]

Patrick Wright is senior legal analyst at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, where he directs the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. He joined the Center in June 2005 after serving for three years as a Michigan Supreme Court commissioner, a post in which he made recommendations to the court concerning which state appeals court cases it should hear.

Prior to that, Wright spent four years as an assistant attorney general for the State of Michigan, where he gained significant litigation and appellate advocacy experience. He joined the state Attorney General’s Office after one year as a policy advisor in the Senate Majority Policy Office of the Michigan Senate. Wright also spent two years as a law clerk to Hon. H. Russell Holland, a United States district court judge in Alaska.

Wright received his law degree at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He graduated with honors in 1994. He received his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Michigan in 1990.

Wright lives in Chelsea, Mich., with his wife and sons.

FOIA Law Enhances Center’s Research and Reporting

Published on June 28, 2011 – Michigan Capitol Confidential

Law Regarding Prohibited Subjects of Collective Bargaining Needs Updated

Published on April 4, 2011 – Viewpoint on Public Issues

FOIA Law Enhances Center's Research and Reporting

Freedom of Information Act requests tend to be fairly routine and innocuous, in a procedural sense. A recent Mackinac Center FOIA request, however, has drawn some media attention. The Center has a long history of using this important tool for monitoring our government and has no intention of curtailing that use in the future. … more

Posted on March 30, 2011 at 3:50pm

Public-Sector Bargaining Privileges Are Not Inalienable Rights

Published on March 11, 2011

Mackinac Center Amicus Curiae Brief to Michigan Supreme Court in Michigan Education Association v. Secretary of State

Published on Oct. 15, 2010 – Study

MEA Lawsuit on Retiree Health Benefits Misguided

Published on Aug. 9, 2010 – Viewpoint on Public Issues

Chetly Zarko v. Howell Education Association

(Editor's note: This case resulted in a disastrous Michigan Court of Appeals ruling that held that the emails sought under a Freedom of Information Act request were essentially personal records, not public records, and therefore beyond the reach of FOIA. The decision severely weakened the state’s FOIA law and thwarted disclosure of improper activity by public employees. Because the Michigan Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of the decision, the ruling can be corrected now only by the Legislature or by the Michigan Supreme Court in a future case.)

A lower court's interpretation of what constitutes a "public record" under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act would shield criminal and other improper government activities from public scrutiny, according to this "friend of the court" brief jointly submitted to the Michigan Supreme Court by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Michigan Press Association.
Click here to download the PDF of this amicus brief. This news release explains the context of the case.
Following the filing of this brief, the Mackinac Center and MPA have submitted two supplemental briefs to the Court. The first alerted the Court to a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling that is relevant to this case. The second supplemental brief brings up recent examples of how the Appeals Court’s disastrous ruling has been used by school districts to deny FOIA requests and potentially hide improper activities. Read the news release for more information.
The Mackinac Center's original amicus brief for the Appeals Court hearing of this case, then named Howell Education Association v. Howell Board of Education, is available here. … more

Published on May 17, 2010 – Study

NFIB Files Brief in Support of Mackinac Center Legal Foundation Case

The illegal shanghaiing of home-based day care providers into a government employees union has attracted the attention of the Small Business Legal Center at the National Federation of Independent Business. It filed an amicus brief with the Michigan Supreme Court requesting that the Court grant the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation's appeal in the Loar v. DHS lawsuit challenging the forced unionization. … more

Posted on April 6, 2010 at 1:18pm

Eroding rights?

Published on Jan. 28, 2010 – Michigan Capitol Confidential

Cheating a rigged game