Lawyers representing ratepayers in the Jefferson County, Ala., sewer debt bankruptcy told a federal judge that the terms of a settlement are unconstitutional and will cost the ratepayers too much money in coming years, Reuters reported yesterday. County lawyers say that the agreement is a done deal that even a federal judge has no right to unwind, a position that Judge Sharon Blackburn found "shocking." Creditors took a $1.4 billion cut in the adjustment plan. The question that the judge will decide is whether the settlement violates the U.S. Constitution. Calvin Grigsby, a lawyer for the ratepayers, cited the 10th Amendment, saying that powers not claimed by federal authorities belong to the people. Grigsby said separately that ratepayers should have been able to vote on the settlement regarding the rate increases.
