Last-minute ruling keeps Michigan gyms closed, hours before they could reopen

Most Michigan gyms will remain closed Thursday, after a panel of three federal judges sided with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer just hours before they were to reopen.

The order reverses an order by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Maloney on Monday, who had allowed fitness centers to remain open and refused to pause his decision while Whitmer appealed. Gyms were set to open Thursday under the ruling.

The eight-page decision — written by Judges Julia Gibbons, Deborah Cook and Chad Readler of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, all of whom were appointed by Republican presidents — offered sweeping support for governors exercising executive power under the coronavirus pandemic.

State and local executives have “had difficult decisions to make in honoring public health concerns while respecting individual liberties,” the judges wrote.

Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/last-minute-ruling-keeps-michigan-gyms-closed-hours-they-could-reopen