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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Challenge to emergency manager law moves forward after Detroit case dropped
February 16, 2014 |
By Bill Laitner
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
John Philo is one of 11 lawyers representing plaintiffs. The case could be heard in April.
A federal judge has reopened a landmark challenge to Michigan’s law that lets the governor take control of a local government by appointing an emergency manager.
Filed against Gov. Rick Snyder and the state treasurer, the lawsuit has 11 lawyers working on behalf of more than 20 plaintiffs, including union leaders, ministers, Detroit school board members and city council members from Flint, Pontiac and Benton Harbor. They argue that the law puts a gubernatorial puppet in full control of a community or school district, overruling local voters in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
After a fresh round of legal filings, the case could be heard in April, attorneys for the plaintiffs said. A total of eight Michigan communities and school districts are run by emergency managers, including Allen Park, Benton Harbor, Detroit, Flint, Hamtramck and the Detroit Public Schools.
Blocked by legal maneuvers for months, the case got a green light last week from U.S. District Judge George Steeh in Detroit, after both sides agreed to remove Detroit’s bankruptcy case and emergency manager from consideration, to avoid complicating the city’s case.
■ Full coverage: Detroit’s financial crisis
“So if we win, it won’t automatically remove (Detroit emergency manager) Kevyn Orr,” said John Philo, a lawyer with the Sugar Law Center in Detroit.
But a victory could trigger removal of other emergency managers now in place,and it could halt future appointments, such as those being considered for Lincoln Park, East Detroit Public Schools, Highland Park and Royal Oak Township. No other state has a law as far-reaching as Michigan’s Public Act 436, which lets the governor appoint emergency managers or intervene in other ways, Philo said Friday.
State officials and legislators who favor the emergency manager law, mainly Republicans, say it’s needed because some communities and school districts badly mismanage their finances. They say there’s a need in those areas for dramatic intervention by an outsider who isn’t beholden to local politics, unions or even the voters.
“None of this would be necessary if there weren’t fiscal crises that haven’t been addressed,” Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said in an e-mail Friday.
“Local governments are subdivisions of the state, and the governor — an elected official — has a clear constitutional role and responsibility in addressing these financial emergencies and protecting the health, safety and welfare of residents, and ensuring that students get the education they need and deserve,” Wurfel wrote.
Those who oppose the law cite ways they say that corporate interests allied with political power let society’s weakest links slide into insolvency.
“The impact of the decisions in Lansing is saying, those of you who’ve been abandoned by capital flight, by union busting, by offshoring our manufacturing, by cutting off revenue sharing from the state — we’re taking control because you didn’t fix the mess we left you,” said plaintiffs lawyer Julie Hurwitz.
The law flouts key democratic principles, said the Rev. Charles Williams II, pastor of Historic King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit and a plaintiff. “My vote is being invalidated,” Williams said. Yet, those who favor the law say it respects what matters most to local voters — their needs.
“People say this violates democracy, but what about when all the streetlights are out?” said Lou Schimmel, Pontiac’s emergency manager until August. Schimmel replaced the city police with a larger force of less-costly county deputies, dropping response times from an hour to less than 10 minutes, he said.
But Pontiac City Council objected strenuously to Schimmel’s every move, including his drastic cuts to members’ pay and benefits. Two of them are plaintiffs on the lawsuit.
“The intent of the governor is to send in people that will really help folks,” said Grosse Pointe Shores City Manager Mark Wollenweber. Appointed by Snyder, Wollenweber has been devoting one day a week to be on a team reviewing the troubled finances of Royal Oak Township.
The team’s Jan. 24 report, citing decades of corruption and deficits, declared the township to be in a financial emergency. Under the law, Snyder now must decide whether the township of about 2,400 residents should be governed by an emergency manager, bankruptcy judge or other form of oversight.
On Thursday, at a trustees board meeting in Royal Oak Township, state Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton, D-Huntington Woods, said the governor could act at any moment.
The emergency manager law “is a very, very troubling statute,” Lipton said.
Township Supervisor Donna Squalls looked over at Lipton. “The emergency manager can dissolve the whole township, is that correct?” Squalls said.
Lipton replied: “That is correct." |
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Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:31 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Judge Steeh was once an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Genesee County.
Scott Kincaid of the Flint City Council and Bishop Bernadel Jefferson of Flint are among the plaintiffs in the case.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:58 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:35 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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STATE STAYS LAWSUITS VS. EM LAW PA 436, CITING DETROIT ...
voiceofdetroit.net/2013/08/16/state-stays-lawsuits-vs-em-law-pa...
EM LAW PA 436, CITING DETROIT CHAPTER 9 BANKRUPTCY FILING. ... The cases have been pending in U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh’s court since March, ...
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Wrinkles in Detroit’s Bankruptcy Filing - News Hits ...
metrotimes.com/news/news-hits/wrinkles-in-detroit-s-bankruptcy...
One of the things Judge Steeh has focused his questions on involves the convoluted history behind PA 436, ... along with vigorously defending the EM law, ...
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Supreme Court Orders Federal Appeals Court To Consider ...
www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/supreme-court-health-care_n...
Nov 26, 2012 · ... agreed with Judge Steeh. ... Judge Steeh's decision in <em>Thomas More Law Center</em>. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton, a George W. Bush appointee, ... |
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Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:41 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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STATE STAYS LAWSUITS VS. EM LAW PA 436, CITING DETROIT CHAPTER 9 BANKRUPTCY FILING
Posted on 08/16/2013 by Diane Bukowski
Protesters sit-down in Cadillac Place lobby June 28, 2012 to demand vote on PA 4, which was overwhelming rescinded. Snyder et al replaced it with PA 436 in the dark of the night..Protesters sit-down in Cadillac Place lobby June 28, 2012 to demand vote on PA 4, which was overwhelming rescinded. Snyder et al replaced it with PA 436 in the dark of the night..
Attorneys for plaintiffs in Phillips et al v. Snyder and Detroit NAACP et al v Snyder are studying strategy for court action in response
Police brutality cases, union arbitration proceedings are likewise stalled
People’s forum on emergency manager Sat. Aug. 17, 9:30 am; rally against EM’s bankruptcy attack on retirees, city assets Mon. Aug 19, 11 a.m.
By Diane Bukowski
Aug. 16, 2013
DETROIT – In federal court filings, State Attorney General Bill Schuette, on behalf of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Treasurer Andy Dillon, has declared a stay on two federal lawsuits which challenge the constitutionality of Public Act 436, due to Detroit’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing.
PA 436 is the current Emergency Manager Act which brought Detroit Kevyn Orr, and eventually the bankruptcy case.
On Aug. 7, Schuette filed a “NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF BANKRUPTCY CASE AND APPLICATION OF THE AUTOMATIC STAY” on cases filed by AFSCME Council 25 Chief Negotiator Catherine Phillips and community and religious leaders, and by the Detroit Chapter of the NAACP, against Snyder and Dillon. The cases have been pending in U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh’s court since March, 2013.
In his notice, Schuette refers to the “extended stay” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes granted with regard to lawsuits against Snyder, Dillon and the State Emergency Loan Board.” Phillips et al motion by state to stay pending bc 8 7 13 and NAAACP EM state motion re BC.
“Actions taken while this Stay is in effect and/or in violation of this Stay, including proceedings in this case, are void and without effect,” Schuette writes in part. “Under these circumstances, the above-captioned proceeding may not be prosecuted, and no valid judgment or order may be entered or enforced against these ‘certain State entities.’ These certain ‘State Entities’ will not defend against, or take any other action with respect to, the above-captioned proceeding while the Stay remains in effect.”
Numerous other actions are being stayed as well, including police brutality lawsuits and union arbitration proceedings.
“We are living in a lawless society right now, where courts will not uphold the law or the constitution,” Attorney Julie Hurwitz, one of eight attorneys representing plaintiffs in the Phillips case, said. “As far as we’re concerned, the stay should not apply to our lawsuit, because it does not affect the bankruptcy case nor does it impact the assets of the City of Detroit. At the same time, one could argue that it does affect the case because if our lawsuit succeeds, it would invalidate the whole bankruptcy filing by the emergency manager.”
She said she and attorneys in the case believe Rhodes’ stay was meant to apply to the three state lawsuits filed by retirees and the city’s two retirement systems in Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie A quilina’s court.
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In what has been called a “rush to the courthouse,” Orr filed the bankruptcy petition just minutes before Aquilina was to hear motions to stop Gov. Snyder from approving the bankruptcy filing as it relates to pension benefits protected by the State Constitution.
Hurwitz said attorneys in both cases are studying appropriate strategies, and will likely object to the applicability of the stay to their cases and ask Judge Steeh to rule on the matter. She could not say when or whether that will actually happen.
“He can at least say the part of the case that has nothing to do with the debtor can continue,” Hurwitz said.
Phillips v. Snyder asks for PA 436 to be struck down not only on behalf of the City of Detroit, but on behalf of all municipalities, school districts and other local entities in the state.
It asks for declaratory relief holding that PA 436 violates the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights act, and due process rights.
It also asks for injunctive relief preventing “present and future EMs from implementing or exercising authority and powers purportedly conveyed by Public Act 436,” protecting Detroit union contracts and the powers of local elected officials, and “for liquidated, compensatory, and punitive damages.”
Click on PA 436 lawsuit Phillips et al and NAACP-EM-436-Complaint- for copies of both complaints.
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Attorney Herbert Sanders, another attorney in Phillips v. Snyder, told Rhodes during the first bankruptcy hearing July 24, “There has already been a motion for summary judgment, and arguments have been scheduled [in our case]. It appears that the city is seeking an extension of the stay regarding finances, but pursuant to oral litigation they are seeking relief concerning any litigation that might interfere with city’s rights as a Chapter 9 debtor. Our case should not be included as part of the stay order. It is imperative the issue in our case should be determined before bankruptcy proceedings.”
Detroit firefighters protest bankruptcy filing July 24, 2013 outside federal court. It endangers their pensions, and they are not eligible for Social Security.
Also during that hearing, Attorney Barbara Paddock, representing the Detroit Firefighters Association, the Detroit Police Command Officers Association, The Detroit Police Lieutenants and Sergeants Association, and the Detroit Police Officers Association, concurred with Orr’s request for the extended stay.
“We are not conceding the city is eligible to be a debtor,” Paddock said. “We simply believe this court is the proper forum because of the interaction of state and federal law. We want the stay to include members of public safety unions who may be subjected to lawsuits.”
Meanwhile, firefighters and other public safety workers protested outside. They said the bankruptcy case endangers their retirement, since no federal law protects public pensions. Additionally, they said, they are not eligible for Social Security as are other city workers, because they never paid into the fund.
Hurwitz said she represents numerous clients in lawsuits against Detroit police officers, and that so far, every judge has considered those actions stayed as well.
John Riehl of AFSCME Local 207 said Rhodes’ stay has affected grievance procedures in the unions as well. He said Labor Relations have notified union officials that they consider the stay to apply to grievance arbitration, even though not all grievances involve financial matters.
Schuette earlier issued a much publicized statement that he would intervene in the bankruptcy proceedings to protect public retirees under provisions of the State Constitution. He has filed to intervene, but has not yet introduced any arguments to that effect.Peoples Forum v EM
Stand your ground
- See more at: http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/08/16/state-stays-lawsuits-vs-em-law-pa-436-citing-detroit-chapter-9-bankruptcy-filing/#sthash.C0KGXBrP.dpuf |
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Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:46 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:56 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint still has a significant deficit and faces an even larger deficit with upcoming legacy costs.
What would a return to power for Flint's elected leaders mean? Would it mean bankruptcy and another loss of power? Could the City be dissolved?
I am curious about what the residents of Flint think. |
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Fri Apr 25, 2014 8:03 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Emergency Manager Law Challenge Court Hearing
Wednesday, April 30 at 9:00am at 231 W Lafayette Blvd #827, Detroit, MI 48226 |
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Sun Apr 27, 2014 3:10 pm |
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