Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made headlines earlier this year when she issued some of the strictest COVID-19 restrictions in the country in her state.
Now, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has doubled down on this by rolling out a series of new coronavirus restrictions that could put violators in jail.
New COVID Restrictions In Michigan
As the United States heads into fall and winter, there has been a reported spike in coronavirus cases, and Whitmer has responded to this by rolling back the reopening plan in parts of Michigan. At the end of last week, the MDHHS issued an updated guidance that requires dine-in restaurants, barber shops and salons, tattoo shops, businesses that provide in-home services like cleaning or repairs, gyms, and entertainment facilities to record the personal information of every client or patron.
In addition, the guidance forces these businesses to refuse service to anyone “who does not provide, at a minimum, their name and phone number.” Michigan officials claimed that the information that is recorded will be used to “aid contract tracing.”
This new order is so broad that it basically applies to every single person in Michigan.
“Upon request, businesses, schools, and other facilities must provide names and phone numbers of individuals with possible COVID-19 exposure to MDHHS and local health departments to aid in contact tracing and case investigation efforts,” it states.
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Violators Could Be Put In Jail
Furthermore, anyone who violates this new guidance in Michigan could be put in jail.
“[V]iolation of this order is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or a fine of not more than $200.00, or both,” the order warns.
Non-residential indoor gatherings have also been limited to fifty people, a decrease from 500, in this order, which states, “For all non-residential gatherings, if attendees are seated at tables, no more than six persons may share a table and tables must be spaced a minimum of 6 feet apart.”
This comes one month after Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Whitmer’s direct coronavirus-related executive orders were “an unlawful delegation of legislative power to the executive branch in violation of the Michigan Constitution.”
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Whitmer Fires Back
The Michigan governor fired back by pledging to bypass the high court’s ruling so that she could implement her orders via “alternative sources of authority.”
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling, handed down by a narrow majority of Republican justices, is deeply disappointing, and I vehemently disagree with the court’s interpretation of the Michigan Constitution,” Whitmer said after the ruling came in, according to MLive.com.
“It is important to note that this ruling does not take effect for at least 21 days, and until then, my emergency declaration and orders retain the force of law,” she added. “Furthermore, after 21 days, many of the responsive measures I have put in place to control the spread of the virus will continue under alternative sources of authority that were not at issue in today’s ruling.”
This piece was written by James Samson on November 2, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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