Muskegon Sun

The Michigan Supreme Court has set Sept. 2 as the date it will hear a case against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, which challenges the emergency powers she has used since the onset of COVID-19.

Since the current pandemic started, Whitmer has used her executive powers to restrict nonessential medical procedures. While some of the restrictions have since been eased, the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation and Miller Johnson law firm represent three medical practices that are taking Whitmer to court over allegations that her executive orders made it impossible to schedule necessary medical procedures. 

“While COVID-19 still presents an extraordinary challenge, we have moved long past the point where unilateral decisions are justified,” said Patrick J. Wright, director of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation and vice president of legal affairs at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, according to MLive. “It is time to return to our normal constitutional order, where the separation of powers exist to protect our rights.”

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen J. Markman opposed the decision in a written dissent to challenge the governor's emergency orders, calling the high court's response disconcerting. The case is moving forward faster than is usual on a typical Supreme Court timeline. 

Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed the suit in May. Its client is a patient who was seeking knee surgery. Whitmer also faces a suit from the Michigan Legislature due to her decision to issue executive orders past April 30, the date on which the state of emergency was set to officially expire. 

A ruling against Whitmer could not only limit her power to issue executive orders but eliminate her power to issue them at all. If this is the case, she would be forced to negotiate with the state Legislatures to expand restrictions. 

“While there may be little we can do concerning the public health consequences of the present crisis, there is a great deal we can do in assessing the legal and constitutional propriety of our state’s response to the emergency,” Markman wrote in his dissent, according to The Detroit News.