Detroit’s legal team on Friday struck back at challenges to the city’s eligibility for bankruptcy protection, arguing that objectors are ignoring the financial reality of the “overwhelming need for debt relief” for Michigan’s largest city, the Detroit News reported on Saturday. In a 135-page consolidated response to 109 objections to Detroit’s eligibility for bankruptcy, city lawyer Bruce Bennett said that creditors are wrong to claim Gov. Rick Snyder’s authorization of the chapter 9 filing violated the state constitutional protection of pensions. Neither the bankruptcy petition nor Snyder’s authorization diminishes retiree pensions, Bennett argued. Bennett also claimed that labor unions have attempted to “invent” a legal requirement that Snyder should have restricted Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr from slashing pensions as a condition on the bankruptcy filing. Bennett said that there’s no statute or constitutional requirement for bankruptcy conditions.
