(WWJ) – The state of Michigan has agreed to pay $200,000 in legal fees to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy after the Michigan Supreme Court case in 2020 regarding the governor’s emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mackinac Center will receive the money for its lawsuit that led to the Supreme Court ruling that the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act was unconstitutional.
The payment to the Mackinac Center will be divided up between the governor and Michigan Attorney General's offices, along with the state health department.
Officials with the Mackinac Center filed a lawsuit in May 2020, challenging whether Whitmer’s use of emergency authority was constitutional as the state grappled with the pandemic.
The suit was filed on behalf of medical providers and a patient claiming they had been harmed by the governor’s orders that required providers to stop seeing patients unless the visit was deemed “essential,” according to the center.
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Later that year the court unanimously ruled Whitmer’s attempt to continue a state of emergency without legislative approval was illegal.
Officials with the Mackinac Center say Whitmer and AG Dana Nessel continue to deny liability.
The Center says it does not charge its clients for representation and will use the money to help offset costs incurred litigating against the governor.
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