The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Michigan
- Level
- Court
- Authority
- Certified questions from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan (Midwest Institute of Health, PLLC v. Governor, No. 1:20-cv-414); Mich. Const. 1963
- Issued
- 2020-10-02 Oct. 2, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-10-02 (the Court's order of October 12, 2020 denied a transition period) (read as 2020-10-02)
- End
- n/a (read as 2020-12-31)
- In force
- Oct. 2, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020
- Quarters
- 2020 Q4
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Other
- Addressees
- the Governor
- all persons subject to the post-April 30 executive orders
- Functions reached
- all functions: the gubernatorial layer ended; the MDHHS layer began October 5, 2020
- Collection
- Michigan MI
Operative words
Docket No. 161492. Argued on request to answer certified questions September 9, 2020. Decided October 2, 2020.... [Syllabus:] the Governor lacked the authority to declare a 'state of emergency' or a 'state of disaster' under the EMA after April 30, 2020, on the basis of the COVID-19 pandemic and that the EPGA violated the Constitution... [the EPGA] constituted an unlawful delegation of legislative power to the executive and was unconstitutional... the unlawful delegation of power was not severable from the EPGA as a whole... Accordingly, the EPGA was unconstitutional in its entirety.... the Governor's executive orders issued after April 30, 2020, were not valid under the EMA.
Enforcement
Notes
Held (4-3) that the Governor had no authority under the EMA to continue the emergency after the Legislature declined to extend it on April 30, 2020, and that the EPGA violated the Michigan Constitution's separation of powers. MDHHS re-imposed the gathering, mask, capacity and closure rules under MCL 333.2253 on October 5, 2020 (Ex. MI-050). The Legislature's adoption of the Unlock Michigan initiative repealing the EPGA (July 21, 2021) followed.
Retrieval noteHolding and date confirmed from the prior verified research (Husch Blackwell tracker) and the Court's own docket listing in the archived index. Pin the reporter citation before use. Retrieved and read in-session (late retrieval).