The Epoch Times – A coalition of five bowling alleys and family entertainment centers is suing Michigan’s Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, for losses incurred due to her mandatory COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon is also a defendant in the case.
The plaintiffs allege that the shutdowns imposed by Whitmer and Gordon were a “taking” of their businesses without just compensation, in violation of both the state and the U.S. Constitution.
The case has been winding its way through the federal courts since January 2021.
The coalition lost the first round of the legal battle when the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan ruled against it.
“We cannot stand for a repeat of such arbitrary treatment and don’t want the people of Michigan to forget what was done to them.”
Oral arguments were recently held before a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals 6th Circuit.
Plaintiff’s chief counsel David Kallman told The Epoch Times after the appeals court hearing:
“The oral arguments from both sides were vigorous. The judges asked a lot of questions. It was the kind of proceeding that makes you proud to be a lawyer.
“Even the defense acknowledges that we are presenting ‘novel’ arguments. Michigan is the only state in the nation where a governor’s public health emergency powers were overturned as unconstitutional. If we lose in the court of appeals, we will take this case to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Scott Bennett, executive director of the Independent Bowling and Entertainment Centers Association, told The Epoch Times:
“The governor’s actions were devastating to our industry. Things went from ‘two weeks to slow the spread’ to indefinite shutdowns.”
Bennett said the forced closures weren’t based on solid scientific proof that bowling alleys and family entertainment centers would spread the virus any more than the Walmart stores or the GM plants that were allowed to remain open … READ MORE.
