Chuck Todd interviewed Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this morning and turned to the recent decision of the Michigan Supreme Court that ruled that she had violated the Michigan Constitution in her extended pandemic orders.

Todd did not challenge Whitmer stating falsely that the opinion was a “partisan” decision.

It was not.

Democratic justices agreed that Whitmer violated the Constitution. They only disagreed on the remedy.

However, that untruth was quickly lost in what was a flagrantly untrue statement by Todd himself.

He told NBC viewers that the justices did not cite any cases to support their decision against Whitmer. The roughly 50 opinion contains over 60 cases discussed in support of the decision. It does not seem to matter anymore at Meet The Press or NBC. NBC is not alone. I previously noted how the Washington Post also has failed to correct openly false accounts of cases. Not only is there no apparent inclination to be accurate but even less expectation to do so.

The Supreme Court found that Whitmer lacked authority under two laws — the Emergency Management Act from 1976 and the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act from 1945. Justice Stephen J. Markman authored the majority opinion and wrote:

“We conclude that the Governor lacked the authority to declare a ‘state of emergency’ or a ‘state of disaster’ under the EMA after April 30, 2020, on the basis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we conclude that the EPGA is in violation of the Constitution of our state because it purports to delegate to the executive branch the legislative powers of state government– including its plenary police powers– and to allow the exercise of such powers indefinitely.

As a consequence, the EPGA cannot continue to provide a basis for the Governor to exercise emergency powers.”

The dissenting opinion authored by Chief Justice Bridget McCormack (with Justices McCormack, Richard Bernstein and Megan Cavanagh joining) drew a curious line. The dissenters agreed with the majority that Whitmer violated the Constitution and did not have the authority to extend the emergency orders but would uphold the EPGA because to facially invalidate the EPGA is unnecessary because there are other judicial remedies.”

This case came before the Court after a federal district court certified questions of state law to be addressed on the constitutionality of Whitmer’s actions.

I realize that Todd may have lost interest in reading the actual opinion, but the first citation can be found on page 3 at the start of the analysis. The citation is to Gundy v United States, 588 US ___, ___; 139 S Ct 2116, 2145; 204 L Ed 2d 522 (2019) (Gorsuch, J., dissenting).

Here are over 60 such cases that Todd insisted were not cited (some which were cited repeatedly):

So, as for Todd’s factual statement that the Michigan Supreme Court majority did not cite to any case, the justices averaged a couple case citations per page in its 50 page opinion. This does not count repeated citations to regulations and sources as diverse as the writings of John Locke.

For academics who have called for an end to objectivity in journalism, Meet the Press.

Here is the decision: In re Certified Questions

Poster Comment:

Whitmer is cited by one pollster as to why Trump will carry Michigan.