The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Michigan
- Level
- State
- Authority
- Const. 1963, art. 4, sec. 51 (public health and general welfare); Public Health Code, MCL 333.2221 (department shall 'continually and diligently endeavor to prevent disease')
- Issued
- 1978-09-30 Sept. 30, 1978
- Effective
- 1978-09-30
- End
- standing (read as 2021-09-30)
- In force
- Standing since Sept. 30, 1978 (a statutory duty; in force throughout the six quarters)
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Emergency declarationGathering capStanding duty
- Addressees
- persons generally; businesses, venues and other operations as the subjects of the orders issued under it
- Character
- statutory authority
- Collection
- Standing duties: Michigan DUT-MI
Operative words
if the director determines that control of an epidemic is necessary to protect the public health, the director by emergency order... may within that emergency order prohibit the gathering of people for any purpose and establish procedures to be followed during the epidemic to ensure continuation of essential public health services and enforcement of health laws.
Penalty
MCL 333.2261 (misdemeanor: imprisonment up to 6 months, fine up to $200) and MCL 333.2262 (civil fine up to $1,000 for each violation or day), both recited in the orders (Exs. MI-050 sec. 6(e); MI-060 sec. 8(e), (h))
What it required
Empowered the MDHHS director, on determining that control of an epidemic is necessary to protect the public health, to prohibit gatherings for any purpose and to establish binding procedures for the epidemic; it is the recited source of every MDHHS epidemic order from October 5, 2020 to June 22, 2021 and of the residential-care, testing and prison orders that continued through 2021 Q3. Character as recorded: statutory_authority (enabling power; binds through the orders issued under it).
Retrieval noteThe 2020-2021 text of subsection (1), quoted by the Court of Appeals in Ex. DUT-MI-019 at 10-11, read: 'If the director determines that control of an epidemic is necessary to protect the public health, the director by emergency order may prohibit the gathering of people for any purpose and may establish procedures to be followed during the epidemic to insure continuation of essential public health services and enforcement of health laws. Emergency procedures shall not be limited to this code.' The 2023 amendment made 'minor revisions to subsection (1) that do not affect' the analysis (id. at 10 n.5). The MDHHS orders under this section were held to be an unconstitutional delegation by the Court of Appeals on June 29, 2023 (Ex. DUT-MI-019), two years after the last general order was rescinded (Ex. MI-076); during the six quarters the orders were in force, enforced and had not been denied legal effect.