Judge Aquilina and Kevyn Orr. Graphic by Lauren Ann Davies
3:27 PM: You didn't think this was over did you?
The Free Press now reports:
Attorney General Bill Schuette said he will appeal Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina’s Friday rulings and seek emergency consideration by the Michigan Court of Appeals.
This would reverse Judge Aquilina's ruling and uphold Detroit's bankruptcy filing. --Lauren Ann Davies
1:54 PM: Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina has ordered Governor Rick Snyder and emergency manager Kevyn Orr to withdraw Detroit's Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing. Aquilina says the filing for bankruptcy violates the protections of state constitutional protections for pensions.
It is expected that any bankruptcy reorganization would reduce benefits to retirees from the city's chronically underfunded pension funds.
Free Press: Lawyers representing pensioners and two city pension funds got an emergency hearing with Aquilina Thursday at which she said she planned to issue an order to block the bankruptcy filing. But lawyers and the judge learned Orr filed the Detroit bankruptcy petition in Detroit five minutes before the hearing began.
Aquilina said the Michigan Constitution prohibits actions that will lessen the pension benefits of public employees, including those in the city of Detroit. Snyder and Orr violated the constitution by going ahead with the bankruptcy filing, because they know reductions in those benefits will result, Aquilina said.
Aquilina didn't stop with Snyder. She reportedly sent her decision to President Barack Obama in the hopes he might support a federal bailout for Detroit's pension funds.
