The Detroit Free Press just reported an Ingham County judge threw a wrench in Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's (R) Detroit bankruptcy filing, saying it violates the Michigan Constitution and must be withdrawn. 

From the Free Press:

Gov. Rick Snyder and Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr must take no further actions that threaten to diminish the pension benefits of City of Detroit retirees, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said today in a spate of orders arising from three separate lawsuits.

“I have some very serious concerns because there was this rush to bankruptcy court that didn’t have to occur and shouldn’t have occurred,” Aquilina said.

“Plaintiffs shouldn’t have been blindsided,” and “this process shouldn’t have been ignored.”

Aquilina pointed out that measures to reduce pension benefits of public-sector workers, like those in Detroit, violate the Michigan Constitution. She says this was Snyder and Orr's intent in the bankruptcy filing. Responding to protests from the attorney general that Aquilina can't anticipate what the bankruptcy court will rule about the pension funds, Aquilina said:

“It’s a certainty, sir,” Aquilina replied. “That’s why you filed for bankruptcy.”

Gov. Snyder must do the following things to reverse the unconstitutional filing: 1) direct the Emergency Manager (Orr) to immediately withdraw the Chapter 9 petition filed on July 18, and (2) not authorize any further Chapter 9 filing, which threatens to diminish or impair accrued pension benefits,” Aquilina wrote in her order. 

Aquilina said she is prepared for her orders to be appealed by the state. 

Read more here.