Shiawassee Times

The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a 77-year-old Michigan barber who defied an order to close his shop during the state-ordered COVID-19 shutdown.

The Supreme Court said the state’s Court of Appeals made mistakes in its handling of the case involving barber Karl Manke of Owosso and remanded the case for further proceedings, the Center Square reported.

However, it’s a moot point now because Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s allowed barber shops to reopen June 15.

The appeals court in a 2-1 decision in late May ruled against Manke, citing the “singular danger that an epidemic presents to the public health and welfare and the need to take exceptional action to control the rapid spread of the disease," according to the Center Square. It said Manke kept his business open even after the state suspended his business license.

But the state’s Supreme Court said the lower court should have allowed the parties to file full briefs in the case and to present oral arguments.

“It is incumbent on the courts to ensure decisions are made according to the rule of law, not hysteria,” wrote Supreme Court Justice David Viviano. “Courts decide legal questions that arise in the cases that come before us according to the rule of law. One hopes that this great principle – essential to any free society, including ours – will not itself become yet another casualty of COVID-19.”

A circuit court has originally refused to issue an injunction again Manke. 

His decision to defy Whitmer’s March 21 order to close attracted national attention and customers from across Michigan, the Center Square reported.It inspired a May 20 protest at the state Capitol. Barbers gave free haircuts at the protest and were cited by state police, the Center Square reported.

As barber shops reopen in Michigan, they are required to have infection control and sanitation plans, the Detroit Free Press reported.

"We're learning to live with COVID-19," Whitmer told the Detroit Free Press.