CINCINNATI – Detroiters’ challenge to Michigan’s emergency manager law will be heard Thursday by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Under Public Act 436, or the Local Financial Stability and Choice Act, the state may intervene in a local government’s or school district’s financial struggles with the use of a state-appointed emergency manager.
Various community members are challenging the constitutionality of Public Act 436 on the basis that it infringes on their First Amendment rights and goes against the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Public Act 436 was passed by legislators in 2012 after voters repealed the previous emergency manager law, Public Act 72 of 1990.
The case is being taken on by the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, the National Lawyers Guild/Michigan-Detroit Chapter, the Michigan American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights and Constitutional Litigation Associates.
“It’s important to note that his law discriminates against African American communities and low-income communities, depriving them of fundamental voting rights,” said John Philo, executive director and legal director at the Sugar Law Center. “Just as importantly, we are arguing that a right to vote for local elected officials is a fundamental right. A vote is a voice, a form of speech, so imposing an emergency manager is also a violation of freedom of speech under the U.S. Constitution.”
The Voting Rights Act prohibits racial discrimination and other forms of discrimination when it comes to voting.
Arguments will be heard Thursday in Cincinnati.