Introduced
by
To “dismiss with prejudice” any misdemeanor charges or civil infraction citations for willfully disobeying or interfering with the implementation of a rule, order, or directive issued after April 30, 2020 under the 1976 law that authorizes the governor to declare a state of emergency and impose enforceable executive orders for 28 days, or longer with legislative consent. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer exercised this power in the spring of 2020 but did not relinquish it as required when the legislature declined to extend the declared state of emergency. On Oct. 2 the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously 7-0 that this was illegal; the court held 4-3 that another state emergency law enacted in 1945 that places no time limit on one-branch governance by executive order violates the separation of powers prescribed by the Michigan Constitution of 1963.
Referred to the Committee on Government Operations
