How to End an Endless Emergency

Michigan's Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer, like many

Democrat governors, has been having a field day with the 

Coronovirus pandemic. Since the outbreak became news 

she has placed her state under a lockdown more tight and 

restrictive than that which my state's governor, Tony Evers,

did with Wisconsin. Gov. Whitmer had ordered retailers to 

cordon off parts of their stores deemed, no doubt by Her 

Majesty to be "nonessential". She also mandated that buying 

a lottery ticket in a store is OK but not, for instance, cans of

paint nor gardening supplies. And she cracked down on the 

ability of landscapers to provide service to their clientele,

all in the name of protecting Michiganders from contracting 

Coronovirus. Your quizzical Peasant thinks perhaps Whitmer

is a nonessential governor for Michigan; she certainly is a 

nonessential dictator.

In an opinion issued last Friday the Michigan Supreme Court

quoted Montesquieu: "When the legislative and executive 

powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of 

magistrates, there can be no liberty." Gov. Whitmer had issued

a state of emergency in Michigan, then recently extended it 

through October 27, WITHOUT authorization from the state

legislature (the Republicans currently control both chambers),

as is required under Michigan's constitution as part of their 

"checks and balances" between the three branches of their

government. 

Gov. Whitmer acted under two state laws: the Emergency 

Management Act allows a governor to declare a disaster,

but just for 28 days. Now, if a longer period is approved 

by the legislature the governor can then extend the state

of emergency, but only under these conditions. The GOP

-controlled legislature declined to give such an extension, 

so Gov. Whitmer extended her emergency order unilaterally,

and was promptly sued by the legislature. She argued in court 

that the aforementioned law said that the Governor "shall"

declare an emergency "if he or she finds that an emergency 

has occurred," and Gov. Whitmer stated that she "had no choice

here but to redeclare a state of emergency" since she claimed 

to have found an emergency still existing in Michigan. 

However, Justice Stephen Markman wrote for the court

in their unanimous decision, "To allow such a redeclaration

would effectively render the 28-day limitation a nullity."

In other words, Justice Markman stated that the Governor's

unilateral redeclaration would zero out the law regarding 

this situation and would also weaken, if not dissolve, 

a check on the scope of the Executive branch of the state

government. 

The second state law which Gov. Whitmer cited for her actions,

the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act which says the 

governor can take "reasonable" action as needed "to protect 

life and property or to bring the emergency situation within 

the affected area under control." The court said that these orders

had, among other things, mandated residents to stay home;

mandatory masks; forced closure of houses of worship, eateries,

schools, libraries, and gyms; prohibited nonessential travel;

and barred private gatherings between people from different 

households. This law, unlike the other one, includes no 

specific time limitation, meaning that in theory the Governor's 

emergency powers could continue indefinitely (!). This sounds

like how governance in communist-ruled countries function,

in that their governments suspend civil liberties such as free 

speech where one may openly criticize the government without

fear of punishment, with the rulers explaining that all civil 

liberties will be restored once the revolution is permanently 

secured --- and that the comrades would inform the people 

when that would be. Except that they never say when the 

revolution is secure, so a lockdown on said liberties remains 

in force. As British statesman Lord Acton put it those many 

years ago, "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Justice Markman once again wrote for the majority,

"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." In a 4-3 vote,

the Michigan Supremes struck down the statute as "an unlawful

delegation of legislative power' under Michigan's constitution."

Gov. Whitmer went 0-for-2 before the state's high court as a result.

What's next, then? The Detroit News stated in an editorial following

the decisions "Representative democracy should not go away in a 

crisis --- that's exactly when it's needed most." Your favorite 
Peasant couldn't agree more. May this truth become more contagious

around the country than the Coronovirus.

MEM