Another win for the good guys…
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan today granted a motion to reopen the lawsuit filed by the Sugar Law Center and others against Michigan officials challenging the constitutionality of Public Act 436, Michigan’s undemocratic Emergency Manager Law. From their press release:
The Court’s order follows three orders from the United States Bankruptcy Court that also said the lawsuit against the Emergency Manager Law could go forward. Gov. Rick Snyder had sought to extend the bankruptcy stay of lawsuits against the City of Detroit to include all suits challenging Michigan’s Emergency Manager Laws. The courts’ ruling puts an end to the Snyder Administration’s latest stalling tactics.
The Sugar Law Center, together with their co-counsel Goodman & Hurwitz, P.C. for the Michigan National Lawyers Guild, the Sanders Law Firm, Constitutional Litigation Associates, and the Center for Constitutional Rights, say that clearing this major legal hurdle is a big step forward in the fight to declare Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law unconstitutional.
“It was blatantly wrong, a clear stalling tactic for the governor to claim that our constitutional challenge to the Emergency Manager Law put us in the same boat as those who are owed money by Detroit,” said John Philo, legal director for the Sugar Law Center. “This ruling means we can continue to seek justice for Michigan voters. We intended to show that democracy and the rule of law trump the will of unelected officials.”
“The right of Michigan voters to choose their leaders is so fundamental that we have to remain vigilant and steadfast,” said Virginia Romano, executive director of Sugar Law Center. “The constitution is on our side and we have to believe that, in the end, the rule of law will prevail.”
