Halle-freakin-lujah
Information is just coming out but various news sources are reporting that the Michigan Court of Appeals has declined to convene a special 7-member panel to review the correctness of a 30-year old decision regarding “substantial compliance” of referendum petitions.
Because of this, for now at least, the referendum to repeal Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager law, WILL on the November ballot.
I suspect that those who benefit most from keeping the law on the books will appeal to the state supreme court and ask that they put a stay on the decision until a ruling is made. However, this is a huge victory and, hopefully, shows that our Michigan judiciary is not entirely a tool of the Republican party.
UPDATE: Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility will be filing an appeal with the state supreme court “in one to two weeks”. Of course they will because nothing says “fiscal responsiblity” like wasting the taxpayers’ money like frivolous lawsuits concerning the font size of three words of petitions signed by nearly a quarter million Michigan citizens. Disenfranchised citizens are worth any cost, it seems.
That, kids, is what they mean by “fiscal responsibility”. Sorta like when they say “create jobs”, they mean “restrict a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion”.
It’s getting so you need a goddam decoder ring or translation dictionary with these hypocrites.
UPDATE 2: Rev. D. Alexander Bullock, president of the Detroit Chapter of Rainbow/PUSH and a founding member of the Stand Up for Democracy coalition issued the following statement:
I applaud today’s decision and hope it is a sign that respect for the law and the democratic process remains a reality in Michigan. However, now we must push for the immediate suspension of all current emergency managers and hope the Michigan Supreme Court will not participate in attempts to overrule today’s Court of Appeals decision. Michigan citizens now expect to have the opportunity Gov. Snyder took from them, that is the opportunity to decide the fate of Public Act 4.
