Law's ‘Immediate Danger’ Justifies Ongoing Emergency, But Not Cancelling Casinos Or Football

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has held the state of Michigan under a declared state of emergency for 193 days as of Sept. 19. The 1945 law Whitmer cites for her authority defines a “state of emergency” as “times of great public crisis, disaster, rioting, catastrophe, or similar public emergency within the state, or reasonable apprehension of immediate danger of a public emergency of that kind.”

The state’s chief medical executive, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, has told Michigan residents they would be lucky to survive if they contract COVID-19."

Yet Michigan residents who feel lucky can still go to casinos, attend high school football games, and college games too now that Big Ten football has been approved for this fall.