City: Detroit faces irreparable harm without bankruptcy

The Detroit News reports:

Detroit would be “irreparably harmed” if retirees are able to block its Chapter 9 filing, a city lawyer argued Wednesday during a historic hearing that lasted almost two hours over the biggest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history. Retirees and city pension fund lawyers have been trying to block the bankruptcy case because, they say, the filing is trying to violate constitutional protections of vested pension benefits. City lawyer Heather Lennox urged U.S. District Judge Steven Rhodes to freeze several lawsuits filed against the city and let the bankruptcy case proceed. Otherwise, the city would be “prevented from accessing necessary protections” of a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing, Lennox argued.

History in the making.