Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel will no longer enforce Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive orders on the coronavirus, effectively ending dozens of statewide edicts, after the Michigan Supreme Court two days earlier struck down the governor’s emergency powers.
Since the state’s chief law enforcement officer declined to keep enforcing the governor’s COVID-19 restrictions on Sunday, the Whitmer administration is now forced to pursue other ways to maintain public health restrictions after initially insisting the orders remained in effect pending a supposed 21-day legal reconsideration period.
Nessel’s office on Sunday made clear the department “will no longer enforce the governor’s executive orders through criminal prosecution.”
“However, her decision is not binding on other law enforcement agencies or state departments with independent enforcement authority,” said Ryan Jarvi, a spokesman for Nessel’s office.
AC