A federal judge is granting permission for Michigan gyms to open June 25, overturning Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's executive order closing them during the Covid-19 pandemic.
(Photo: Delaney Van / Unsplash)
The administration will appeal.
(U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in Kalamazoo) issued the order in a lawsuit brought by the League of Independent Fitness Facilities and Trainers, Inc. and other plaintiffs who objected to emergency orders that gyms remain closed.
The judge said the state had not shown sufficient evidence to back up the assertion that a gym would be a "petri dish" for COVID-19 infection, if open.
The state "answered with a blanket 'trust us' statement that is insufficient," Maloney wrote in his opinion.
An appeal is planned in the 6th District Court of Appeals, a spokeswoman said.
