LANSING (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court on Monday rejected Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's request to delay by 28 days the effect of its decision striking down a law she had used to keep intact sweeping orders designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Justices voted 6-1 against halting the precedential effect of its Oct. 2 opinion until Oct. 30. They also reaffirmed their initial 4-3 ruling that declared the 1945 emergency powers law unconstitutional, this time in a lawsuit brought by the Republican-led Legislature.
Executive orders issued under the law “are of no continuing legal effect. This order is effective upon entry,” the court wrote.
Whitmer, a Democrat, had asked the justices to give her administration, lawmakers and local health departments 28 days to transition in the wake of the major decision.
Her administration last week quickly reinstituted mask requirements, gathering limits and certain business restrictions with pandemic orders issued by the state health department under a public health law whose origins date to the 1918 flu pandemic.
Legislators and Whitmer are negotiating legislation related to other orders negated by the decision, including an extension of unemployment benefits to 26 weeks from 20 weeks.
Other bills would let public bodies meet electronically, extend driver's license renewal dates during a state of emergency and retroactively shield health providers from coronavirus-related lawsuits filed by patients.
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