Supreme Court Gets New Brief In Case That Could Take Away Governor's Emergency Powers

The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation has filed a brief in a case before the Michigan Supreme Court that could result in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer losing the unilateral emergency powers she has exercised by issuing coronavirus epidemic executive orders.

The case will be heard by the state's highest court on Sept. 2. The Miller Johnson law firm is also working with the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation on the case, which was filed on behalf of several health care providers and facilities.

The new brief states: "The certified questions that are presented to this Court do not require any determination about whether Governor Whitmer’s policy decisions in combating the COVID-19 epidemic are wise or effective. This case is instead about the nature of Michigan’s government— about whether the executive branch may displace Michigan’s Legislature and continue to indefinitely extend and exercise its immensely broad emergency powers throughout the entirety of a pandemic that has no clear end in sight."