In a Tuesday, Nov. 16 ruling, U.S. District Judge Janet Neff denied the state's motion to return the case to Ingham County, where the Attorney General Dana Nessel initially sued Enbridge to enforce Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Line 5 shutdown order. Nessel, Whitmer and Enbridge opponents wanted the case heard before a circuit court judge who might have been friendlier to the state's position. In her ruling, Neff stated the litigation will "necessitate examining the scope of the federal government's constitutional and statutory authority over the lands and waters at issue," and the outcome has importance "to the federal system as a whole."