The supreme court in Michigan has ruled that Governor Gretchen Whitmer exceeded her constitutional authority under state law in the arbitrary enforcement of her unilateral decrees to mitigate the COVID-19 virus. [pdf here] As the court wrote in the opinion rebuking the governor:
“The people of this state have been denied a voice and a seat at the table in decisions that have impacted every facet of their lives and their futures over the past eight months. They deserve to have their representatives bring their voice and their concerns into this decision-making process.”
At the heart of the governor’s legal argument was a 1945 law allowing the governor to declare a state of disaster or emergency if she finds one to exist and it remains in place for 28 days, unless the Legislature extends it. The legislature did not extend the declaration, yet the governor continued to restrict the citizens without any representative voice.
MICHIGAN – […] In the 4-3 ruling, the court determined the governor did not have the authority under state law to issue any additional emergency declarations pertaining to the pandemic after April 30. That was the last date when the legislature allowed the governor to declare an emergency.
“The governor’s declaration of a state of emergency or state of disaster may only endure for 28 days absent legislative approval of an extension. So, if the Legislature does nothing, as it did here, the governor is obligated to terminate the state of emergency or state of disaster after 28 days,” said the majority opinion, written by Judge Stephen Markman.
[…] “Put simply, and our criticism is not of the Governor in this regard but of the statute in dispute — almost certainly, no individual in the history of this state has ever been vested with as much concentrated and standardless power to regulate the lives of our people, free of the inconvenience of having to act in accord with other accountable branches of government and free of any need to subject her decisions to the ordinary interplay of our system of separated powers and checks and balances, with even the ending date of this exercise of power reposing exclusively in her own judgment and discretion,” the majority wrote.
“It is in no way to diminish the present pandemic for this Court to assert, as we now do, that with respect to the most fundamental propositions of our system of constitutional governance, with respect to the public institutions that have most sustained our freedoms over the past 183 years, there must now be some rudimentary return to normalcy.” (more)
Here’s the full ruling:
[scribd id=478479186 key=key-WL6tNitMQGS2BzrkWvGK mode=scroll]
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It’s time to test the guarantee clause of the US Constitution.
Article 4. “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.”
So the Legislature, which conveniently is the plaintiff in this case applies to the USG. This means Trump. Republican form of government is undefined, either here or in court precedent but authorities seem to agree that whatever it is, it doesn’t include dictators which is what we have here. It is a little unclear whether the legislative initiation applies only to domestic Violence or to the whole article but it doesn’t matter since we have both issues.
In the past, SCOTUS has ducked Article 4 cases by saying it is a political issue. So be it.
So the legislature applies, Trump acts. He has a variety of options. My preference would be martial law followed by a drumhead court martial. Or perhaps arrest under 18 USC 242. Or whatever the sedition and insurrection statutes are. But there are lesser options available.
Richard and others: this article by David Marcus explains exactly what is going on in Killer Cuomo’s Gulag. Unless you live in a Commie Blue State like mine, you have no idea how bad it is.
I hate to say it but Hitler would be jealous of Cuomo between the senocide (killing of old people) and the latter day Jew Badges (masks), our criminal thug of a Governor is guilty of far worse crimes against humanity and should be brought up on charges by an international tribunal. .
https://nypost.com/2020/09/30/its-past-time-to-pull-the-plug-on-andrew-cuomos-dictatorial-pandemic-powers/
As long as we are arresting people, Trump might want to start with California and Gavin Newsom first.
Is Whitmere guilty of enslavement?
So, are we free in MI??
Or, do we need to wait for the appeals??
I believe your Supreme Court would be the final word. Go on about your business!!!!
What about the whole, “I still have my illegal authority for 21 days!” bit?
The ruling takes effect in 21 days. I bet the next 21 days are going to be a real shyt show
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” ― H.L. Mencken
There is a skit with Monty python where they sing about ‘lumber jacks’ . As the chorus goes on they begin to question “WTH are we singing”. Reminds me of our country right now.
Some see the singing group right off as imbeciles and would never join but most go along for a period until, they hear their own voices agreeing to be reprobates.
“After William Rainsberger was arrested for murdering his 88-year-old mother, he spent two months in jail before he was released on bail. A year later, prosecutors dropped the case, citing a lack of evidence. That decision was not surprising, because Rainsberger’s arrest was based on a probable cause affidavit written by an Indianapolis detective who misrepresented crucial facts and omitted exculpatory information.
The detective, Charles Benner, nevertheless argued that Rainsberger could not sue him under 42 USC 1983, a federal statute that allows people to seek damages when government officials violate their constitutional rights. In a 2019 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit demolished Benner’s argument that he was protected by qualified immunity, a court-invented doctrine that limits such claims to cases in which officials are accused of violating “clearly established” law.”
https://reason.com/2020/09/23/amy-coney-barrett-demolishes-the-qualified-immunity-claim-of-a-detective-who-framed-a-man-for-murder/
Qualified Immunity creates a “above the Law” class of Individuals and is clearly Unconstitutional.
“Affirming the district court’s refusal to grant qualified immunity the Seventh Circuit determined that “a competent officer would not even entertain the question whether it was lawful for him to lie in a probable cause affidavit. The hypothetical officer in the qualified immunity analysis is one who acts in good faith. That is what the standard of ‘objective reasonableness’ is designed to capture.”
https://www.policemag.com/513739/affidavits-just-the-facts
My above posts have relevance to several issues the site discusses on a daily basis.
Long Overdue and the Constitution will Prevail over the Failed COVID-19 10 Governors sending Sick Death to Personal care Homes in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Louisiana, Kentucky, California!
Governors Cannot Erase COVID-19 Deaths From The Internet!
“4-3 decision” One judge away from allowing the dictatorship to flourish.
Black Robed Tyrants are here.
I noticed that too. If those urges are elected I would hope the 3 that voted against are in jeopardy of their slots
Now get rid of Whitmer. Through due process, preferably.
Yes, what Whitmer has been doing is Hitlerian. Hitler got into power when Hindenberg allowed him to form a government after the election. He immediately used “emergency orders” to seize additional powers, and then started killing people, first killing the feeble to establish his authority and willingness to kill, and then moving on to kill other of his enemies within the state, before moving on to mass murder on an international scale.
Sounds familiar, eh? Use “emergency orders” to kill the feeble, by forcing nursing homes to accept active covid patients?
Whitmerism and Hitlerianism are identical. They both started with “emergency orders” and then moved on to murder.
Thank God a court has finally gotten something right.
Railer,
May I suggest that what the Governor has been doing has been Whitlerian to further tie her to Der Fuhrer in actions & deeds.
And to me it matters not that the court verdict came down 5-4. A win is a win just as a 5-4 b-slap hurts every bit as much as a 9-0 a b-slap.
Oh to be a proverbial fly on the wall to soak in the fury spewed by Herr Whitler & her Marxist AG following news of the verdict.
From a political sense the MI citizenry must be singing something like “Ding Dong the Wicked B*tch is Dead” this morning on this news.
The only sad thing about that ruling is it should have been unanimous, The Oregon supreme court ruled the other way. Says a lot about the corruption of the judiciary.
I live here. She is evil. What must be pointed out is a couple doctors and a physician assistant filed the lawsuit and took it all the way. Not the Republicans. 3 guys. Patriots. Changed everything for us.
Whitmer deployed her goon squad on one doctor. Sent chid services to his hous on a “tip” he had “dangerous weapons” in his house. Interrogated his 3 kids. Fail. Next they raided his clinic on a “tip” he operates under weed and alcohol. His employees said no way. Guy is a straight arrow. Next they screw with his medical rating. Criminal in how they did it. Next they sent a DNR officer to arrest him for a 2017 deer tag warning he received. He just shot it, had tag in his pocket, DNR guy walks up. Writes warning. Now they come to arrest him 3 years later. And of course launch a tax audit of his business.
She is horrible. What is worse: her goons had to know it was wrong but they “were just following orders”. I really hope he gets a Lin Wood type to sue each agency and makes a fortune. Plus uncovers the mastermind of that coordinated tyranny.
I’ve seldom if ever wore a mask. Most businesses don’t care. Now an entity can no longer use “governors orders” starting right now this minute as a mask crutch
Your account reeks of Lois Lerner Police Statist.
“The State is always right, I am an employee of the State, therefore I am always right”
They shriek loudly when their Rights are infringed.
Don’t Let this Slide MI.
Litigate to the Fullest, Class Action if necessary.
Let me add for clarity.
Account = Description of Events.
Yes she is a horrible human being along with her flying monkey district attorney. The problem here in Michigan is that it is another socialist utopian workers paradise. There isn’t any opposition in Lansing. It’s very, very corrupted public officials all the way down to the local level. Most Michiganders will obey what they consider to be ‘superior orders’ or will cite that ‘it’s the law’ to anyone they see not in compliance. Everything you’ve described is relevant to this. Until people en masse begin to confront the thugs, goons, and apparatchiks of those like Whitmer the beatings will continue until morale improves.
By the way the ‘superior orders’ excuse is also known as the Nuremberg Defense. It should be noted to those using such excuses that violating the Human Rights, otherwise known in the U.S. as the Bill of Rights and Constitution of the United States of America of their fellow Citizens is a Crime against Humanity. Therefore they can be made to pay for such crimes sooner, or later. Which is why many are saying we are already in a ‘civil’ war right now…
“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’, because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.” -Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.” It was “illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany. But I am sure that if I had lived in Germany during that time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal. If I lived in a Communist country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I believe I would openly advocate disobeying these anti-religious laws …” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, 16 April 1963
“In a 4-3 decision…”
In a 7-0 case, the MI Supreme Court walks up to the abyss and shines a light down the chasm into 1,000 years of darkness as three of them urge the other to take the leap.
The people of MI had better wake up and send a message that Gov. Witless can’t fail to hear or understand.
Why did this take so long?
Where were the Republicans?
What is wrong with those 3 justices?
“Where were the Republicans?” Seriously? Where have ANY of them been since March, when we were all stripped of our rights and subjected to all kinds of ruinous and tyrannical orders? Most of us still are, to greater or lesser degrees. They are nowhere to be found, cowering from taking an actual stand and failing to safeguard us from these despots. After this election, where we pretty much have to vote Republican, else far worse evil will befall us, we need to clean out these RINO cowards and start electing statesmen (or stateswomen.) The RINOs may not actively push this tyranny (some do–look at Mike DeWine), but they sure as hell are not stopping it.
Some great comments over at American Thinker on this:
“I just read the pertinent section of the 1976 Emergency Management Act. She was REQUIRED to end the emergency after 28 days. She was allowed to ask for an extension to be granted by both house of the legislative branch. She has clearly violated, grossly, the Act.
People in Michigan should be able to sue her, personally, for damages suffered as a result of her blatant violation of their law.”
And…
“I’m a Michigander. The Court’s ruling officially takes effect Oct 23 as Witless issued another arbitrary extension of her draconian shutdown orders to Oct. 27, just before the Court ruled against her. The suit that initiated the ruling came from the traditionally Republican, west side of the State, brought by a consort of 3 medical groups “challenging her order that prevented doctors from performing elective surgeries”. It came to the Court via a U.S. District judge in Kalamazoo (on west side of State). The Republican controlled state legislature filed a similar suit with the Court. 539k signatures pf registered voters were also just and coincidentally handed to the State’s Democrat Secretary of State seeking repeal of the 1945 law that her boss has used to gleefully torture the State’s citizens with since last spring.
“In fact, the only enforcers of her orders has been the private sector. No law enforcement agency that I’ve heard of here has arrested anyone or in any other way enforced her orders. Most, in fact, have publicly stated they had far more important things to do than stop people for not wearing masks or social distancing. Life here has gone on as normal for most MI citizens, who have defied her orders, except for being annoyed at having to shop, work or attend services in those damned masks. You can also easily distinguish Democrats from Republicans in the State by those walking down the street with a mask on; driving alone in their car or riding a bicycle with one on; panhandling for money in a mask on a street corner or entering a store, masked, to rob it.
edited”
Zephyr- you NAILED IT. I love American Thinker, another one of my daily, go to blogs.
Zephyrbreeze I live in Virginia, but weeks ago when reading about Whitmer’s edicts, I read the emergency law in question and saw the 28 day requirement to end the emergency edicts or request an extension. I thought to myself this is pretty darn clear, a 6th grader could understand this. My next thought was that there must be a mechanism to end this tyranny but, short of courageous individuals willing to take on a lengthy and expensive court case, there appeared no stopping the witch. I hope the people of MI will pursue legal actions against Whitmer’s for her unlawful acts and, of course, throw her out of office as soon as possible. It appears that when one elects a Democrat for any office one is ok with relegating the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and written law to the trash bin.
Yet Whitmer remains defiant, calls out Republican Justices and states she will use other means to implement her rule over Michigan. She needs to be recalled.
Check it out:
https://www.michellesmirror.com/
we Michiganders have to vote out McCormack. we citizens collected more than half a million signatures on a petition to eliminate the 1945 EPGA and have submitted them for verification. perhaps signatures will be verified – one of Whitmer’s minions is in charge there- before the election but one has one’s doubts. perhaps a lame duck court session. or perhaps the 1945 law will be gone before the courts rule.
“as reasonably precise as the statute’s subject matter permitted” is not a reasonable judicial standard!
why you do not want to vote for Bridget Mary McCormack to continue as Chief Justice on Michigan’s Supreme Court! she left herself a big loophole to by saying the 1945 EPGA is constitutional.
“—for the Governor to invoke the EPGA, her actions must be “reasonable” and “necessary,” they must “protect life and property” or “bring the emergency situation . . . under control,” and they may be taken only at a time of “public emergency” or “reasonable apprehension of immediate danger” when “public safety is imperiled.” Those standards were as reasonably precise as the statute’s subject matter permitted. Accordingly, the delegation in the EPGA did not violate the nondelegation doctrine.”
don’t be afraid, read the decision syllabus here. it’s readable.
https://courts.michigan.gov/…/In%20re%20Certified…
This Case needs to an Urgency Emergency Appeal to The Supreme Court of the United States Immediately. So, it can apply to all 50 States requiring State Legislative Bipartisanship Input Rule with the 50 Governors.
Remove all Voting Governors and Department of States Dictates and other State Supreme Courts that have made Voting Rules on Postmark Balloting Submissions and Counting that were One Unconstitutional Decisions by Each 50 Governors Immediately before the Election days and especially during this Early Voting Period.
This way the Elections of all 50 States will be Uniform and will be decided on Election Night! This would Overrule current Federal Courts Rulings that made such Decisions as well.
“our criticism is not of the Governor in this regard but of the statute in dispute —” Well, it should be!
Spoken like real pos–chief of which might be Witless Whitmer herself.
Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law, you dopes.
Anyway, must really suck being her–couldn’t even make it to the vp pick. What a loser–any wretch who believes in slavery is a Loser.