Wayne County prosecutors are dismissing all violations related to Michigan’s coronavirus shutdown orders. Attorneys say the cases have no legal basis to proceed.
Last year, the Michigan Supreme Court decided against Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive orders for the pandemic.
The court ruled that Whitmer did not have the authority to issue or renew emergency declarations made after April 2020.
Law enforcement in Wayne County had been ticketing for alleged ordinance violations and misdemeanors, up until the court ruling last October.
Most infractions happened in Detroit, where more than 16-hundred cases were pending. Now, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is dismissing all pending and adjudicated cases.
She says while the governor’s order prevented people from contracting Covid-19. Wayne County will no longer use criminal prosecution to enforce the orders.