WHAT is happening in Michigan is a microcosm of what is happening in our country, and perhaps, around the world, in this global war against the coronavirus pandemic.
As of press time, it has claimed the lives of more than 235,290 people, with 3,303,296 confirmed cases and counting.
Here in the United States, the number of confirmed cases has topped a 1, 123,930 with a death toll of more than 65, 230. These numbers still do not reflect those who have died in their homes and have not been tested.
The pandemic has devastated the economy, affected the lives and livelihood of families, and broken so many dreams. The stay-at home and shelter in place safety measures implemented by local government officials to help mitigate the spread of the virus have also tested the ability of every person to think of what will be good for the bigger community over his or her own individual situation, needs, wants, interests and comfort zone.
This is particularly challenging considering the lack of clear strong moral leadership from the Office of the President of the United States, who, instead of urging people to comply with the safety measures, even encourages protests against these stay-at home orders and push to relax social distancing to re-open the United States for business again. This comes despite advice from scientists and health officials that “we are not there yet.”
Because of these mixed messaging coming from the White House and local government officials, a lawsuit was filed in Michigan by plaintiff Steve Martinko and others, against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order.
As in other states with strict social distancing, stay-at home, and shelter-in-place safety measure, Gov. Whitmer’s orders were introduced to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and save lives. In Michigan, there are 40,399 confirmed cases and the death toll has reached 3,670, per reporting from the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
But protesters and plaintiffs contended that Whitmer’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order, violated the rights of Michigan residents — an argument echoed by other governors and mayors who support President Donald Trump. Even the president himself praised these people defying the order calling them true “patriots.”
Trump again sided with protesters, and as Newsweek reported — some of whom were armed — in Michigan on Friday, May 1, for their effort to reopen parts of the state after Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extended her emergency declaration keeping some businesses shuttered amid the pandemic.
We recall that last month, Trump rolled out a series of tweets tapping into the people’s fears, boredom and frustrations, encouraging people in critical battleground states lead by Democrats, to “LIBERATE.”
According to the Newsweek report, “The plaintiffs in the case claimed that the ‘mandatory quarantine,’ along with interstate travel restrictions listed in an earlier version of the order, violated their rights to both procedural due process and substantive due process.”
HOWEVER, the Michigan Court of Claims has ruled on Thursday, April 30, that the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” orders do not infringe on the constitutional rights of residents.
Court of Claims Judge Christopher M. Murray wrote in his decision that “those liberty interests are, and always have been, subject to society’s interests—society being our fellow residents.”
“They — our fellow residents — have an interest to remain unharmed by a highly communicable and deadly virus, and since the state entered the Union in 1837, it has had the broad power to act for the public health of the entire state when faced with a public crisis,” Murray explained.
The rationale behind Murray’s ruling is that “issuing injunctive relief “would not serve the public interest, despite the temporary harm to plaintiffs’ constitutional rights,” Newsweek reported.
This decision is very important especially as a team of pandemic experts say in a report that “it may take more than 18 months.”
The new coronavirus is likely to keep spreading for at least another 18 months to two years—until 60% to 70% of the population has been infected. This report was released on Thursday, April 30 by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.
These experts recommended that “the U.S. prepare for a worst-case scenario that includes a second big wave of coronavirus infections in the fall and winter. Even in a best-case scenario, people will continue to die from the virus,” they predicted, based on science.
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Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at [email protected], or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos.
Our constitution was never intended to be bent to the whims of power seeking socialists in Michigan.
This will be the last time I read this Communist China influenced rag!