County Police in the US state of Michigan have refused to enforce a lockdown order declared by Democratic Governor, Gretchen Whitmer to control the spread of Coronavirus in the State.
Governor Whitmer extended a lockdown which was supposed to end by the end of April through May in efforts to stem the tide as Coronavirus cases in the state increased to 47,000 with 4,500 deaths.
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The Sheriff of Shiawassee County, Brian BeGole in a written statement said he decided to express his views on the Governor’s executive order after receiving a barrage of calls from local residents regarding the matter.
He also stated that he’s having doubts about the order because the state legislature had not extended the previous lockdown order beyond April 30 as required by the constitution.
“The legality of that is a judicial branch determination.
“With limited resources, staffing and facilities, our priority focus will be on enforcing duly passed laws for the protection of Shiawassee County citizens,” he said.
“I have decided, within my authority, that our office cannot and will not divert our primary resources and efforts towards enforcement of the Governor Whitmer’s executive orders.”
Two country Sheriffs in Arizona last week, refused to carry out the Republican Governor’s executive stay at home order citing the law as an excuse.
A California Sheriff also refused to carry out Governor’s Doug Ducey’s lockdown order.
Michigan’s stay at home extension had also eased restrictions for some businesses in the state.
“This is good news for our state, our businesses, and our working families,” The Governor had said at the time. “We’re not out of the woods yet, but this is an important step forward on our MI Safe Start plan to re-engage our economy safely and responsibly.”
“We’re not out of the woods yet, but this is an important step forward on our MI Safe Start plan to re-engage our economy safely and responsibly.”
Republicans in the state also took Governor Whitmer to Court for extending the stay at home order citing that her extension of the state of emergency can only be with the approval of the state legislature.