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This article originally appeared in The Detroit News December 17 2024.
Have you seen those law firm advertisements where the resolute lawyer stares straight into the camera and asks if you’ve been injured in an automobile accident? Then, he invites you to call the toll-free number on your TV screen and says you may be entitled to compensation.
There is no such compensation for the people who were harmed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s unconstitutional COVID-19 lockdowns.
Since the pandemic, a number of individuals and small business owners have sued the state of Michigan because the lockdowns harmed them in some way. The verdict is in: Public officials can shut down a person’s restaurant, wedding hall, gym or university, but no matter — the state won’t owe them anything.
On Dec. 4, the state Court of Appeals ruled against three Michigan State University students who sued after MSU canceled in-person classes in 2020. The students argued MSU owed them the full university experience — classroom instruction, office hours with professors, interaction with fellow students and campus activities. The students felt MSU unjustly enriched itself when it restricted them to online classes while collecting full tuition.
The Court of Appeals disagreed, given the “unexpected global crisis.” The court said tuition is based on credit hours, not a particular educational experience. “Therefore, it is wholly fair and just for MSU to retain the tuition and fees it collected,” wrote the court.
That wasn’t the first loss for students seeking post-COVID tuition breaks. In 2022 the Court of Appeals ruled against students from Eastern, Central and Lake Superior State.
Business owners are running into similar dead ends. Whitmer shut down gyms and fitness facilities from March to September of 2020. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services subsequently limited gym operations through agency epidemic orders.
The Gym 24/7 Fitness in Alma filed a class action lawsuit, arguing the mandatory shutdown deprived them of the use of their property. Unconstitutional takings, they said, deserve financial compensation.
The Court of Appeals rejected the gym’s claim. The court ruled that Michigan did not take or destroy the gym, but only temporarily deprived the owners of its use. The court said gym owners could have offered online fitness classes or sold products in order to keep revenue flowing.
I could go on. A bowling alley in Mount Clemens and a catering service in Clinton Township lost their cases. A restaurant trade association in Macomb County was tossed for lack of standing. In case after case, courts are deciding these claims in favor of the government that inflicted the damage.
We can be thankful the Michigan Supreme Court ended Whitmer’s unconstitutional lockdown in October 2020, though Michigan Department of Health and Human Services continued many of her restrictions through agency orders.
It’s the end of the road for most of the litigants. In August, the Michigan Supreme Court declined to review the appeals from the gyms, bowling alley, caterer, restaurants and several college students. The MSU students can still appeal, but their prospects are dim.
Looking forward, we should curtail the state’s emergency powers. During the pandemic we all saw the extraordinary power state officials had to restrict civil liberties, commercial activity, recreation, education and travel. My colleague Michael Van Beek found 30 state statutes that give public officials emergency powers.
The state should adopt sensible limits to those emergency powers. What actions can government take in an emergency? How long may emergency declarations last? What accountability measures will limit over-zealous state officials?
In 2022, lawmakers introduced bills to safeguard against government overreach, but the bills were not adopted. The Legislature can address this in the coming session.
Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.
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