At the end of the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy throws a bucket of water to douse the fire on the Scarecrows arm. Like the rest of us, Michigan Gov. Whitmer is probably wondering why there was a bucket of water there if it’s fatal to the witch. Though in Whitmer’s case, the bucket is the Court, and the water is the Constitution.
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Or is the State’s highest court Dorothy? It hardly matters. They’ve tossed out a ruling that is melting Whitmer’s beautiful wickedness.
In a landmark ruling with far-reaching implications, the Michigan Supreme Court decided Friday that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer violated her constitutional authority by continuing to issue orders to combat COVID-19 without the approval of state lawmakers.
The state’s high court ruled 4-3 that a state law allowing the governor to declare emergencies and keep them in place without legislative input — the 1945 Emergency Powers of the Governor Act — is unconstitutional.
The Detroit News also reports that another law used by Whitmer to justify her endless renewal of executive orders did no such thing.
The court was unanimous in ruling that a separate law — the 1976 Emergency Management Act — did not give Whitmer the power, after April 30, to issue or renew any executive orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic after 28 days without Legislative approval.
That hardly seems like it should be a barrier to her goals. Work with the legislature. Adjust and renew whatever plan you can all agree is prudent. Or, not. Democrat Whitmer has a Republican majority legislature. Perhaps that is why she is incensed; insists this does not overturn her orders, and that she will continue to enforce them by other means. Such as?
The State’s Department of Public Health has not been cobbled. It still retains a good deal of regulatory power unaddressed by the ruling.
The decision itself responds to a Federal Court request that still needs to rule on the actual lawsuit. During that time, Governor Whitmer claims another 21-days of enforcement or until such time as the court releases its decision.
However this shakes out, Michigan, like New Hampshire, has an abuse of executive power problem it needs to address. To do that, it needs a legislature willing to take it on and to overturn a likely veto.
Once acquired, power is a difficult thing to pry from the hands of politicians. Absent stop-gaps with or without legislative approval, public health will continue to be abused to infringe on individuals’ rights.
That cannot be allowed to stand.
