Michigan Residents Sue Over Emergency Manager Law

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

More than two dozen residents of Michigan filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against top officials in the state contending that a new law broadly expanding the powers of emergency managers in the most financially troubled cities violates Michigan’s Constitution.

The lawsuit, filed in Ingham County Circuit Court, contends that the law approved by Michigan lawmakers this year improperly allows the state to place new costs on municipalities without paying for them and, in essence, bars local residents from picking their own elected representatives.

In March, leaders in Lansing — which has, since last fall’s election, been controlled by Republicans in both chambers of the Legislature and in the governor’s office — approved the measure granting more control to those sent into local governments and school districts by the state to avoid allowing such places to go bankrupt or fail entirely.

Leaders of labor unions, in particular, were outraged by the provision because it allows such state-appointed emergency managers to, in some cases, undo provisions of the contracts that towns and cities had already agreed to. Some appeared for rallies in opposition in Lansing this spring. But others had broader complaints; how, they asked, could a state-assigned official simply step into the role of an elected local leader and do whatever he or she wished?

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/us/23michigan.html

[No Elephants]

1. Wishing the plaintiffs much success.

I hopt Michigan jurisprudence does not throw too many roadblocks in the way of a suit like this. In federal court, there would almost surely be a standing issue.