Michigan Judges Divide On ‘Sacred Cause’ of Covid Shutdown Power

In a clash over government power, the Michigan Court of Appeals has issued a second ruling within a month that undercuts state authority to respond to emergencies without legislative approval.

Michigan health officials in 2021 stole power from the then-Republican state Legislature when Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Director of Health and Human Services appointee issued Covid masking and in-person eating limitations, the divided court ruled Thursday.

It “is one thing if a statute confers a great degree of discretion, i.e., power, over a narrow subject; it is quite another if that power can be brought to bear on something as ...