The Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice is seeking a Development and Communications Manager to help expand Sugar Law’s donor base, raise more money, and increase our visibility. The DCM will be responsible for helping inspire people in Detroit, across Michigan and through the U.S. Our goal is to expand awareness of the social justice mission of Sugar Law and engagement with our programs and initiatives. We view both fundraising and communications as effective tools to expand engagement with many communities and thus the impact of our work. Application deadline is February 13, 2012. Essential qualifications include extremely strong writing, willingness to solicit personal donations, comfort using advanced databases, and passion about Sugar Law’s mission. Click here for the full job description and details on how to apply.

Come celebrate heroes of community justice, enjoy live jazz, exquisite hors d’oeuvres, and the chance to connect with fellow activists at Sugar Law’s annual reception.
   5:30-8 pm on Wednesday, November 16, 2011
   United Way for Southeastern Michigan, 660 Woodward, Detroit MI 48226
The reception follows a 4 pm free public presentation on activism and lawyers—see sidebar at right.
Tickets are $50 in advance, $60 at the door ($25 low-income/student).

Click here for information on sponsorships, or here to make a tax-deductible contribution at any level.  Gifts to the Sugar Law Center are tax-deductible as allowable by law. The Sugar Law Center is tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Tickets to Essential Advocacy have an estimated fair market value of $20 each.

Join us on November 16, 2011 at ESSENTIAL: Advocacy for Community Justice, Sugar Law Center’s annual reception. We will present the Maurice Sugar Voice for Justice Award to the plaintiffs in Brown, et al. v Snyder, et al, and celebrate the successful conclusion of our Democracy Emergency fundraising campaign.

Event: Essential Advocacy for Community Justice

Time: 5:30 – 8 pm

Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Place: United Way for Southeastern Michigan, 660 Woodward Ave., Suite 300, Detroit 48226

Tickets: $50 in advance, $60 at the door

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                              

Wednesday, September 14, 2011                             

More Information:  Tova Perlmutter   313-993-4505

Response Filed Challenging Snyder Supreme Court Request

Sugar Law Center Says Fast-Tracking Emergency Manager Suit Short-Circuits Justice

LANSING, MI–Lawyers for 28 Michigan citizens challenging the state’s emergency manager law Wednesday filed a response with the Michigan Supreme Court opposing an extraordinary request by Governor Rick Snyder that the high court bypass normal procedures and immediately take up a legal challenge to the controversial law.

The Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, representing the citizen plaintiffs, told the justices in a brief (http://www.sugarlaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Plaintiffs-Response-to-Exec-Msg.pdf) filed Wednesday that short-circuiting the normal judicial process does not serve the public interest and would deny their clients necessary fact-finding that occurs in circuit court.

“The emergency manager law was passed hastily, without input from all stakeholders, and its substance reflects a mentality that values fast action over a fair process or effective policy that would help our cities to recover,” said Tova Perlmutter, Executive Director of the Sugar Law Center. “Unfortunately, the Governor’s request appears to reflect a similar attitude and a fundamental mistrust of the state’s established judicial system.”

Governor Snyder on August 12 asked the Supreme Court to order the case removed from Ingham County Circuit Court  and make an “early determination” as to the constitutionality of Public Act 4—the emergency manager law. If the Supreme Court takes up the case directly, the “discovery” process that occurs in lower courts will be omitted, which limits attorneys’ ability to learn actions that have been taken by the State and emergency managers. Public Act 4 does not require emergency managers to publish their decisions and actions, or the costs they incur—information that is essential to the arguments brought by the plaintiffs. Fact-finding procedures in the circuit court would require the parties to disclose all such information.

Snyder’s request, contained in an Executive Message to the high court, invokes a rarely used procedure under Michigan Court Rule 7.305(A). The rule allows the Supreme Court to take immediate control of cases where lack of resolution prevents the government from continuing important operations.

“It’s clear that the lawsuit is not interfering at all with the appointment of emergency managers or the operation of their offices,” said Perlmutter. “In the period since the suit was filed, emergency managers have not hesitated to impose decisions on communities including Benton Harbor, Pontiac, and the Detroit Public Schools.”

The citizens’ lawsuit says the emergency manager law violates the Michigan Constitution by:

• Suspending home rule, by giving emergency managers sole power to adopt and repeal local laws, ordinances, charters and contracts

• Effectively eliminating citizens’ rights to vote for and petition local government on matters of local concern

• Violating the separation of powers, by allowing the executive branch and its agencies to exercise legislative duties

• Allowing the Legislature to enact unfunded mandates, by using local taxpayer dollars for such purposes as managers’ salaries and staff

“Democracy requires due deliberate speed,” said Perlmutter, “but not—contrary to the philosophy behind PA-4—haste at the expense of the people’s voice and the legal system itself.”

The Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice is serving as the lead counsel for the 28 citizens. Sugar Law is joined by attorneys with the Center for Constitutional Rights, The Sanders Law Firm, Miller Cohen PLC, and Goodman & Hurwitz PC on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild, Michigan chapter.

5:30-8 pm Weds. Nov. 16, 2011 ; United Way, 660 Woodward, Detroit MI 48226
4 pm free public presentation on activism and lawyers—see information at right.
Purchase tickets online here, or call 313-993-4505 to order by phone. Tickets will be held at the door under purchaser’s name. Gifts to the Sugar Law Center are tax-deductible as allowable by law. The Sugar Law Center is tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Tickets to Essential Advocacy have an estimated fair market value of $20 each.

We invite you to sponsor ESSENTIAL: Advocacy for Community Justice at one of the following levels by clicking below or by using this form.

LASTING PARTNER ($2,500)
Six (6) tickets to ESSENTIAL: Advocacy; A full-page advertisement in the event program book; and Recognition in the Sugar Law Center’s newsletter (circulation of over 1,000).
PARTNER ($1,000)
Four tickets to ESSENTIAL: Advocacy; A three-quarter-page advertisement in the event program book; and Recognition in the Sugar Law Center’s newsletter (circulation of over 1,000).
ADVOCATE ($750)
Two (2) tickets to ESSENTIAL: Advocacy; A half-page advertisement in the event program book; and Recognition in the Sugar Law Center’s newsletter (circulation of over 1,000)
DEFENDER ($500)
Two (2) tickets to ESSENTIAL: Advocacy; A quarter-page advertisement in the event program book; and Recognition in the Sugar Law Center’s newsletter (circulation of over 1,000).
SUSTAINER ($250 or $25/MO)
Two (2) tickets to ESSENTIAL: Advocacy; Recognition in the event program book; and Recognition in the Sugar Law Center’s newsletter (circulation of over 1,000). Individual tickets for ESSENTIAL: Advocacy for Community Justice are $50 in advance and $60 at the door. We also offer tickets for low-income individuals that still want to get involved. To learn more, call Sugar Law Center at 313-993-4505 Please donate tickets you will not use for those in our community who cannot afford to purchase tickets. Gifts to the Sugar Law Center are tax-deductible as allowable by law. The Sugar Law Center is tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The message below was composed by Paul Jordan, one of the plaintiffs in Brown, et al. v. Snyder, et al., the constitutional challenge to Michigan Public Act 4. He sent it to reporter Kristin Longley of the Flint Journal shortly after it was announced that State Treasurer Andy Dillon had initiated an official review of the city’s finances–the first step toward appointing an Emergency Manager to take over the city under PA-4.

Dear Ms. Longley:

I’m writing to provide what I hope will be some useful information concerning some important contributors to some cities’ financial distress. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to respond to them. Feel free to use anything in this.

As you know, I am one of the plaintiffs who are suing Governor Snyder and State Treasurer Andy Dillon to overturn PA 4, the new emergency manager law. It is therefore particularly disturbing to me that Flint’s finances are undergoing a financial review at Mr. Dillon’s initiative. This is the first step towards the appointment of an emergency manager for Flint—an appointee of the governor possessing dictatorial powers.

The emergency manager law is based upon a cruel and false assumption: That the revenues of local governments have nothing to do with the financial distress that so many localities—including Flint—experience.

The reality is that cities in financial distress have residents who are much poorer, have lower property values, and have a much greater proportion of vacant properties (on which taxes are probably NOT being paid).

Oakland County (outside of Pontiac) is generally regarded as financially healthy, while Pontiac has had an emergency manager for some time. If we consider only the part of Oakland County outside Pontiac and compare it to the cities of Pontiac and Flint on these measures we discover these facts for 2009:

(This is based upon data from county reports along with information from the American Community Survey for 2009)

It is also false that cities that are in financial distress irresponsibly spend an exorbitant amount of money compared to those that are not in distress. Consider these figures (also from 2009) based on city audit reports filed with the state:

Not only do poorer cities spend less, they often do a better job than more affluent cities in matching expenditures to revenues!

Some of the cities where emergency managers have been imposed have had some distinctive and even unique assets. Emergency managers have disposed of some of these assets, allegedly in an effort to make more money available to support local services or to pay local debt. In Benton Harbor, for example, part of the publicly owned Lake Michigan shoreline was leased to a private development company so that they could build condos and a golf course on it. In Pontiac, the Silverdome (built at taxpayer expense) was sold to a private company.

The annual payment for the lease of part of Benton Harbor’s Jean Klock Park was reportedly only $20,000—an incredible bargain. The Silverdome was sold for $500,000 while the emergency manager himself had previously estimated that it was worth $7,500,000—another fantastic bargain! The primary beneficiaries of these bargains were the chosen businesses, not the citizens of those cities.

Flint, too, has at least one incredible asset remaining despite its troubles—Hurley Medical Center. We can be certain that, if an emergency manager is appointed for Flint, Hurley will be sold to some for-profit hospital corporation at a bargain price. The justification undoubtedly will be to provide the city with a few million dollars for a short period of time, while the loss to the people of Flint will be experienced forever afterwards.

The answer to improving the well-being of Michigan’s cities isn’t liquidating whatever assets they have at fire-sale prices—it is improving the revenue available for city services. Poorer cities do not have less need for police or fire fighters than richer cities—in fact they are likely to have more need.

The state has been consistently ignoring its obligation to do this. Article I Section 1 of the Michigan constitution states that, “Government is instituted for their (the people’s) equal benefit, security and protection.” This means that the state government has a responsibility to ensure an adequate level of public services, fire, and police protection to everyone in Michigan, whether they live in Bloomfield Hills or Flint. It has failed miserably in that responsibility. Instead of supporting cities, it has been cutting state funding to cities while giving $1.8 billion in tax breaks to businesses in its upcoming budget year alone!

The emergency manager law is a cruel hoax that deserves to be set aside, either through the ballot box or by the courts. We need to squarely face the real but difficult issue of how to adequately and fairly fund our cities.

Very sincerely

Paul G. Jordan

Flint

The board, staff and broader community of the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice are saddened by the passing of Debra Evenson. An internationally respected—and beloved—champion of human rights, Debra helped found Sugar Law and served as a board member until her death.

Tributes to Debra from around the country and across the ocean are recalling her brilliant legal career and her unfailing devotion to justice.

Debra served as President of the National Lawyers Guild from 1988 until 1991—the year the Sugar Law Center was founded as a Guild project. She was one of the Guild’s leaders in all its efforts to strengthen social movements for liberation and justice.

Having studied Cuban society and institutions for many years, Debra developed unsurpassed expertise on the country’s legal system and institutions. “That so many in Havana, and such a diverse group of people—high government officials and ordinary workers, intellectuals and artists, academics and lawyers—deeply mourn her passing as a personal loss is testament to Debra’s great integrity, contributions, and humanity,” said Michael Krinsky, a partner at Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman, P.C, the firm at which Debra was Of Counsel.

For more of Debra’s professional history, read the NLG’s statement at http://www.nlg.org/news/press-releases/nlg-mourns-passing-of-debra-evenson/.

Sugar Law Executive Director Tova Perlmutter offers these comments in Debra’s memory:

“It seems impossible that Debra is gone. All of us at Sugar Law send our deepest sympathies to her family, and rededicate ourselves to working for all that she held dear.

“I have a very personal reason to be grateful to Debra. When the Sugar Law board and I were first working together on a limited basis, it was Debra who suggested that both Sugar Law and I could benefit from extending the partnership. Thanks to Debra, we explored and ultimately settled on my joining Sugar Law permanently as Executive Director. Thanks to Debra, I have been privileged for the past five years to live out my values fighting for human rights.

“I came to rely on and appreciate Debra on so many levels. Her ideals were the highest, and her dedication was unbounded. She was a great listener who could boil down complicated issues to clear policy options. She had the deepest philosophical commitment to human rights, but she was also a very practical person who always focused on concretely advancing the organization—and the movement.

“Everyone who knew Debra learned from her. Even as she fought the cancer that eventually claimed her life, Debra was sending messages with ideas for strengthening Sugar Law’s efforts against Michigan’s emergency manager law. I have no doubt she gave similar support until the end to the other causes that inspired her passion.

“We are saddened by her passing not only for what she might yet have accomplished, but because we will miss her so very much as a friend.”

Sugar Law Calls Move To Bypass Other Courts ‘Troubling’

DETROIT– The Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, which has filed suit challenging Michigan’s emergency manager law as unconstitutional, said today that they will oppose Gov. Snyder’s request to bypass normal court procedures by having the state Supreme Court take immediate control of the case.

Snyder on Friday asked the high court to take immediate control over the case.

“The mentality behind the emergency manager law is that fair process doesn’t matter, input from all stakeholders doesn’t matter, and decisions are better if they are simple and fast,” said John Philo, Legal Director of the Sugar Law Center. “This rush to the Supreme Court reflects the same attitude, and shows a fundamental mistrust of the state’s established judicial system.”

“The nature of our courts is that the initial fact-finding and introduction of critical evidence occurs at the circuit court level,” said Philo. “It is troubling that the Governor wants to skip that phase.”

Sugar Law represents 28 plaintiffs from throughout Michigan who filed suit against Michigan Public Act 4, the emergency manager law, in Ingham County Circuit Court on June 22. On Friday Governor Snyder filed an “executive message” with the Supreme Court asking that the case be certified to go directly to the Supreme Court.

“The Governor’s message highlights the extreme importance of the issues in this case—which is all the more reason that a full review is essential,” said Sugar Law Executive Director Tova Perlmutter. “Democracy requires due deliberate speed but not—contrary to the philosophy behind PA-4—haste at the expense of the people’s voice and the legal system itself.”

The citizens’ lawsuit says the emergency manager law violates the Michigan Constitution by:

• Suspending home rule, by giving managers power to repeal local laws, ordinances, charters and contracts

• Effectively eliminating citizens’ rights to vote for and petition local government on matters of local concern

• Violating the separation of powers, by allowing the executive branch and its agencies to exercise legislative duties
• Allowing the Legislature to enact unfunded mandates, by using local taxpayer dollars for such purposes as managers’ salaries and staff

The Sugar LawCenter for Economic and Social Justice is serving as the lead counsel for the 28 citizens. Sugar Law is joined by attorneys with the Center for Constitutional Rights, The Sanders Law Firm, Miller Cohen PLC, and Goodman & Hurwitz PC on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild, Michigan chapter 

Governor Snyder Executive Message to Michigan Supreme Court:  http://www.sugarlaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Executive-Message-Aug-2011-Re-Brown-v-Snyder.pdf

On July 18 2011, the Montague City Council passed a resolution that roundly rejects the newly expanded powers granted to Emergency Managers under Michigan Public Act 4:

WHEREAS, this act vastly expands the powers granted to Emergency Managers, in a fashion that challenges to destroy Democracy in Michigan cities, towns, villages, counties and school districts, and;

WHEREAS, this act allows elite bureaucrats to sell public assets, shred public contracts and agreements and dissolve governments and remove elected officials, and;
…

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, the Montague City Council urges local elected officials, elected State Representatives and Senators, and the people of the State of Michigan to support the repeal of the “Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act.”

Dave Frederick, one of the plaintiffs in our lawsuit, spearheaded this effort in Montague to support the referendum and repeal of Public Act 4, a law that infringes the rights of Michiganders to be represented by duly elected officials and eliminates accountability.

Want to do more to support our lawsuit and help protect democracy in Michigan? Share our Democracy Emergency website with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter: www.democracyemergency.org

Want to do more? Write a resolution and submit it to your local body of government just like Dave Frederick did. You can use the City of Montague resolution as a template.

Click here to read the City of Montague resolution in its entirety.