House subcommittee hears allegations of 'weaponization' after pandemic-era prosecutions of Michigan businesses

The Michigan House Oversight Subcommittee on Weaponization of State Government heard testimony from two business owners who said state officials targeted them for enforcing pandemic restrictions after they reopened during COVID-19 closures.

Carl Manke, a barber from Owasso, told the committee he reopened his shop after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s early COVID-19 orders and later was cited, fined and pursued through administrative and appellate proceedings. “I went back to work,” Manke said. He told the panel he paid about $9,000 in fines tied to health-department actions and later estimated his total out-of-pocket legal costs at about $90,000.

The committee then heard from Marlena Hackney, owner of Marlena’s Bistro in Holland, who described a December 2020 visit by health inspectors, a subsequent order suspending her license, a bench warrant and a March 2022 arrest that she said left her jailed for days. Hackney said she posted a notice in her restaurant that customers assumed risk and that she refused to enforce mask or distancing orders; her attorney, Helen Brinkman, told the committee the license suspension and contempt action stemmed from MDHHS emergency orders issued after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled some executive orders unlawful.

Brinkman presented internal emails she said were from Michigan officials and an email exchange she said included a line from the attorney general’s office advising law-enforcement partners to “pick her up before she goes on” a national television program. Brinkman characterized those messages as evidence of political targeting: “We should we should just have her picked up before she goes on,” she said, quoting an email shown to the committee.

The subcommittee’s witnesses and members repeatedly referenced a Michigan Supreme Court ruling the transcript identifies as an October decision that found certain COVID-19 executive orders unconstitutional. Brinkman told the committee the Attorney General’s Office and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services pursued enforcement under other emergency authorities and through administrative licensing actions even after that ruling.

Committee members pressed witnesses about specifics of inspections, warrants and prosecutorial decisions. Representative Wolford thanked Manke for testifying and Representative Shriver said the hearing should prompt legislative action to limit the power of unelected administrative agencies. “I would like to see legislation introduced to reign in the power of these departments,” Shriver told the room.

The committee adopted minutes from its March 19 meeting by unanimous voice consent at the start of the session. No other formal votes or committee directives were recorded in the transcript.

Both witnesses told the panel their cases remain the subject of litigation or further proceedings. Brinkman said portions of the fines and orders against Hackney were later reduced or returned on appeal and that some actions remain contested in court; Manke said some actions had been returned in his favor but that other fines were upheld in later proceedings.

Members asked staff to look into the identities of the health-department employees involved and to gather documents. Several members described the testimony as grounds for further oversight and for possible legislation to clarify the limits of emergency administrative authority.

The subcommittee recessed after questioning and public testimony concluded.