Detroit's bankruptcy judge has set a September court hearing for dozens of Michigan residents to voice opposition to the city's bankruptcy, but warned that a popular argument—that bankruptcy violates the state's constitution—won't persuade him to throw out the case at this point, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes named 90 individuals who will get three minutes each to argue for the city's bankruptcy to be dismissed at a Sept. 19 hearing. But in his 11-page order filed to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit, he said that many of the arguments against the case have improperly focused on whether Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's bankruptcy exit plan for the city would involve cutting back on the $3.5 billion worth of pension promises that city officials have made to more than 23,000 retired workers, firefighters and police.
