Michigan Supreme Court Asked To Draw Line In The Sand

The legal question in Glass v. Goeckel, which began nearly four years ago as a struggle between neighbors who despise each other, is straightforward: Does the public have the right to walk along all 3,200 miles of Michigan’s Great Lakes coast, or can private owners — who own 70 percent of lakefront property — put up fences, barriers, and other impediments to discourage visitors. But in the legal details of a case that pits an elderly woman against her younger and wealthier neighbors rests the social and political framework of a story that is another test of our state and national character.