Of all the politicians who have given free reign to their inner tin pot dictator during this virus debacle, among the worst is Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. Yesterday the state legislature of Michigan acted as follows:
An unusual day in Lansing inside the state Capitol as the Republican-controlled Legislature did not vote to extend Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency powers declaration but authorized their ability to file a lawsuit against the Democratic governor over her response to COVID-19.
The resolution approved by the House gives Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, the authority to file a lawsuit against Whitmer, though he said a decision hadn’t been made as of Thursday, April 30, 2020.
“We have to be prepared to take the next steps should she not accept her offer of partnership. We have three branches of government; the executive, the legislative and the judicial,” Chatfield said. “They all have their role, even in a pandemic and this may be one where we get the third branch of government involved.”
The Senate approved a similar resolution, authorizing Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, to file litigation as well. During a passionate floor speech, Shirkey said the end of the governor’s executive powers “means we return to a system of checks and balances that ensures all voices are heard. It also means the legislature must vote to ensure continuity of other necessary changes made via executive order.”
Go here to read the rest. In another development, he Michigan Court of Claims, Judge Christopher M. Murray ruling, sided with the Governor in ruling against an attempt by five Michigan citizens to have her actions ruled as unconstitutional. Go here to read the text of the decision. In a way I am unsurprised by the decision. Each state has statutes granting emergency powers to governors in emergency situations. The courts have usually given great deference to governors acting in such situations. However, usually such actions have been limited in scope and time. In this current debacle, governors have seized upon unprecedented, since the Civil War, levels of power, for indefinite time periods, to trample the constitutional liberties of their citizens. If the Judiciary will not act to protect the rights of the citizenry in this type of situation, the question emerges of just what value are written constitutions if they may be safely ignored by the State on the scale they have been since March? A dangerous precedent is being established, and it bodes ill for our future as a free people.
Yeah, well, after the Legislature adjourned, and Whitmer 1) rescinded her Declaration of Emergency expiring on April 30, 2) declared a new Emergency under an old 1946 Law, and then 3) declared an Emergency under the 1976 Law. We are under house arrest until May 28.
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I expect that those businesses she forbade to operate (lawn services, etc) are in a very precarious position–she can forbid them working again any time.
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From what I’ve seen in various comboxes, the population is deeply divided.
the population is deeply divided.
They will be less divided as the warm weather comes and people are having the cabin fever to end cabin fevers. If enough people to decide to violate a law, it becomes unenforceable, if I can dignify governor decrees with the term law.
Our governor said that in the extended shut down he may consider allowing small gatherings among extended family members.
In fact, people have been going to parks and the like in groups of up to 20 or so, and not always with their family members. This has been going on for at least a couple of weeks when the whether has gotten better.
That’s the sort of situation that we’re going to get into if these shut downs are dragged out for months. People will just ignore travel guidelines completely, we’ll get a black market for a lot of the supposedly shut down industries and so on. Some people may get hassled by the police, but unless they arrest everyone or start shooting people (in which case we’ll have bigger problems) it won’t do much to deter most people.
A local auto detailing shop decided to stay open and sanitize cars for our front line workers. They were snitched on enough times where our Republican (?) prosecutor decided he had to take action and haul the guy up on charges. He said that cleaning cars is “not essential.”
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It is very difficult to trust people right now.
I wish I was up there. I would defend him pro bono.