This article originally appeared in The Detroit News November 25, 2025.

Last Thursday night in Detroit, the Federalist Society Michigan Lawyers Chapter honored a public interest lawyer who has made an indelible mark on Michigan’s legal environment.

The Federalist Society, a network of conservative and libertarian lawyers, conferred its prestigious Grano Award on Patrick J. Wright, who directs the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation.

The Grano Award recognizes Michiganders who show great respect for the rule of law and constitutional principles. It is named after Prof. Joseph D. Grano, a distinguished professor of law at Wayne State University Law School who died in 2001. As an originalist, Grano advocated judicial restraint. He argued that judges should not look outside the constitution’s text or structure to invent rights or privileges.

Past recipients of the Grano Award include former Gov. John Engler, Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Maura D. Corrigan (and Grano’s wife), Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Clifford W. Taylor, Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert P. Young, Jr., U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham and Lucille S. Taylor, legal counsel to Gov. Engler, to name a few.

I am proud to see Patrick Wright, a trusted colleague and friend, join these legal luminaries. Patrick’s career began in government service, including roles at the Attorney General’s office and as a commissioner at the Michigan Supreme Court.

Patrick joined the Mackinac Center in 2005. Over the next 20 years, he and his team helped shape two constitutional amendments and influenced significant legal questions at the Michigan Supreme Court. He has litigated cases against governors, agencies and government unions. His transparency litigation pried public records from both the Snyder and Whitmer administrations, including records about the Flint water crisis and Michigan’s COVID-19 lockdowns.

Public interest litigation seeks justice for people who are harmed by government policy — especially people who have nowhere else to go.

In 2008, the Michigan Supreme Court, drawing on an amicus brief written by Patrick Wright, held that it is the judiciary, not agencies, which must interpret law and say what statutes mean. It would take the U.S. Supreme Court another 18 years to invalidate the Chevron doctrine at the federal level.

The lawyers at the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation took on the illegal unionization of day care and home help providers during the Granholm administration. Nearly 100,000 people were unionized simply because their clients took some public aid, and the Service Employees International Union skimmed tens of millions of dollars from Michigan’s neediest families. This litigation promoted legislative fixes, and Michigan voters later rejected the skim in a 2012 vote.

The U.S. Supreme Court cited the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation’s amicus brief in Janus v. AFSCME, a 2018 case that said it is a violation of the First Amendment to compel public employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment. As a result, millions of public employees across the country were free to leave their union.

When COVID-19 arrived in Michigan and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared an ongoing statewide emergency, Patrick led several legal challenges. The Court of Claims invalidated Whitmer’s attempt to convert violations of her orders from a misdemeanor to a felony. And the Michigan Supreme Court held that Whitmer could not unilaterally rule Michigan through emergency orders.

Wright and his team have litigated on behalf of residents whose taxes were used for illegal and wasteful government spending, lodge owners forced to pay for unwanted marketing services, a mother whose school district refused to share the school curriculum with her, and a medical center shuttered by Covid lockdowns.

As Patrick Wright accepts the Grano Award, government overreach continues to be a persistent challenge. Michigan’s families, workers and taxpayers have a tireless advocate in their corner.

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.