Judge Colin Hunter of Otsego County, Michigan just brained Governor Gretchen Whitmer with his gavel. He smacked the controversial Democrat upside her head in his legal opinion about her tyrannical Covid lockdowns so hard that liberals are still dazed from the blow. Hunter ruled that “the punitive measures” which she and the state health officials took against restaurant owners in the state “were unconstitutional.”
Judge backs Constitution
National coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, Jenny Beth Martin, couldn’t wait to tweet out the news on Sunday, January 16, that the Judge ruled against Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan health department. They clearly violated the constitution.
“Whitmer and the MDHHS lacked the legal authority to impose COVID lockdown restrictions on a Michigan restaurant that allowed in-person dining.” That’s especially good news for Ian Murphy, owner of the Iron Pig Smokehouse, in Gaylord. He’s the one who filed the suit which generated the successful ruling.
Everybody agrees that the heavy handed rules Whitmer imposed on her subjects “were some of the strictest in the country.” The were also totally unconstitutional. One pundit notes that “the Governor repeatedly showed that she has no concern for civil liberties or the well being of small businesses in her state.”
Judge Hunter agrees. He issued the final word on a battle which started last May. That’s when Ian Murphy “had enough and decided to sue Whitmer for enacting punitive measures against him for violating covid restrictions.” Not only did he lose business, he was hit with heavy fines and lost important licenses.
According to documents filed with the court, the restaurant owner has at least $25,000 in damages but the total they finally come up with will probably a lot higher, after all the paperwork settles. His life was ruined because of Whitmer’s whims and the judge agrees that she “lacked the legal authority to impose restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He wasn’t breaking any new ground with the ruling because the Michigan Supreme Court already declared that “a 1945 law giving the governor the power to issue a closure order for bars and restaurants was unconstitutional.”
Dared to defy the Democrats
Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services will now be responsible for remedying the damage they did through fines and loss of business. When a law isn’t constitutional, you don’t need to obey.
Murphy dared to defy the Democrats in power and it cost him dearly. His business, he testified to the judge, “was unable to operate, unable to earn an income, and unable to function in any way.”
Things got even worse for Murphy when The Michigan Liquor Control Commission suspended the restaurant’s liquor license. Adding insult to injury, they “tacked on a fine for violation of the ban on indoor dining and for not enforcing mask-wearing requirements.” The unconstitutional requirements.
BREAKING: An Otsego County judge has ruled that Governor Whitmer and the MDHHS lacked the legal authority to impose COVID lockdown restrictions on a Michigan restaurant that allowed in-person dining.
Another win for freedom.
— Jenny Beth Martin (@jennybethm) January 16, 2022
The judge also didn’t like hearing that “the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development took away the business’s food license and lobbed a fine as well.”
Murphy used the recent state Supreme Court ruling as an argument in his lawsuit. Judge Hunter wasn’t about to disagree with the highest court in the state. They didn’t have the authority to do what they did. So, that’s that.
“The Iron Pig will not have to pay the $5,000 fine imposed by the state.” As far as the rest of the alleged damages, they still need to fight it out. All the other affected business owners will soon be filing their own similar claims for damages based on the executive overreach.
