Two Democratic lawmakers agree: AG Nessel sicced government on business owners during pandemic

A restaurant owner who was arrested and jailed for operating her Holland restaurant during the COVID pandemic asked the Legislature to rein in the power of unelected bureaucrats during testimony April 23 at a Weaponization of State Government subcommittee hearing.

Marlena Pavlos-Hackney, a Holland restaurant owner, testified to the committee that she was arrested March 19, 2021, for defying Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 orders.

The arrest came after the Michigan Supreme Court had already declared Whitmer’s orders unconstitutional in October 2020.

Nessel originally threatened Hackney with imprisonment on March 4, 2021.

But it was not until Nessel learned that Hackney was scheduled to appear on the Tucker Carlson Show that she ordered the arrest, according to emails Michigan Capitol Confidential obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request in June 2021.

“Do we know her whereabouts? We should just have her picked up before she goes on. This is outrageous,” said Nessel in a March 12, 2021, email about Hackney appearing on Carlson’s show.

Nessel did not respond to a request for comment.

But Carlson does not mince words after Hackney's testimony.

“Marlena is one of the toughest, most principled people in the state of Michigan,” Carlson told CapCon in a text message. “It’s not surprising a monster like Dana Nessel would try to take her out.”

Hackney fled Communism in Poland as a teenager. She originally complied with the shutdown order. When Whitmer allowed businesses to reopen, the governor mandated social distancing and mask requirements, which the restaurant owner defied. Hackney needed to pay bills.

After the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Whitmer’s edicts unconstitutional in October 2020, Nessel and the agriculture department pursued Hackney through government agencies.

On March 4, Nessel petitioned a court to force the restaurant to close for violating COVID rules.

Allegan County law enforcement and a county judge said they would not arrest Hackney or shut her down. But Judge Wanda Stokes, who presided in Ingham County more than 100 miles away, ordered Hackney’s Bistro closed until she complied, also imposing a $7,500 fine and issuing a bench warrant for her arrest. The order violated the Ingham County court’s arrest guidelines during COVID.

Hackney said she was cavity-searched and sent in shackles and chains to stand before Judge Rosemarie Aquilina.

The Bistro owner was originally sentenced to 93 days in jail. The $7,500 fine was doubled to $15,000. Hackney appealed the fine, and the Court of Appeals agreed.

Hackney attorney Helen Brinkman supported the claim that Hackney was targeted by showing pictures of Whitmer, in May of the same year, at a group gathering at The Landshark, in violation of her own rules. The Landshark was never fined, Brinkman pointed out at the hearing, nor did its owner go to jail.

So far, Hackney said she has paid $70,000 in legal fees.

Government shouldn’t target residents, said Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, a Democrat from Livonia.

“Admittedly, not the way government should be operating,” she said.

Rep. Dylan Wegela, a Garden City Democrat, also chastised Nessel. “It is absolutely appalling, and our government shouldn’t be persecuting anybody on behalf of their First Amendment rights or ignoring their Fifth Amendment rights to due process,” Wegela said.