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Jesse Jackson Detroit: Reverend Calls For Civil Disobedience To Protest Emergency Manager Law

WATCH: Jesse Jackson Calls For Mass Demonstrations
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson called for a "major mass nonviolent demonstration" to resist the state of Michigan's appointment of an emergency financial manager in Detroit, reported WXYZ-TV.

He made his call for action at a rally on Friday held at Detroit's Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, accompanied by citizens who plan to challenge the legality of the emergency manager law, Public Act 436, in court this coming week, according to the Detroit Free Press.

"Centered around the filing will be protests and civil disobedience," Jackson said in a WXYZ video. "I certainly agree that we need and we seek federal intervention, but we must make our federal government do what they are supposed to do on our behalf."

PA 436 is a revised version of Public Act 4, a controversial law that gave sweeping powers to officials appointed by the state of Michigan to manage financially-distressed school systems and cities. The earlier law was rejected by a majority of Michigan voters in a referendum last November, but state legislators afterwards approved a slightly altered act that can't be challenged by a ballot initiative.

Earlier this month, the state of Michigan appointed Kevyn Orr, a former partner in the Jones Day law firm with a background in corporate restructuring, as Detroit's new Emergency Financial Manager. When PA 436 takes effect on March 28, Orr will become an emergency manager (EM) with expanded powers, including the ability to revise contracts and sell off city assets.

Detroit Councilwoman JoAnn Watson and Congressman John Conyers (D-Detroit) were also on hand at the protest. Conyers along with fellow Metro Detroit Congressman Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp) have called for a nonpartisan investigation of the state's application of emergency manager laws.

Jackson has long been a critic of Michigan's EM laws. In December 2011, he spoke out with members of the Occupy movement against the legislation at a rally at Detroit's Bethany Baptist Church.

"If this were Mississippi or Alabama that were doing this, there would be a different kind of national outcry, because it is so boldly anti-democratic," he told The Huffington Post.

Rev. Jackson, a former Democratic presidential candidate, recently called for more federal gun legislation, including background checks at gun shows and regulating the sale of bullets and magazines for semi-automatic and assault weapons. He was arrested in December, along with workers at a Sensata Technologies plant owned by Bain Capital, after protesting 170 jobs that will be moved from the Freeport, Ill. plant to China.

Even before Jackson came to town, local protesters have taken to the streets -- and even the freeways -- to voice their opposition to the EM law. Convoys of vehicles, passengers armed with banners and bullhorns, have slowed highway traffic in the city at least five times since Snyder announced he was appointing an emergency manager in Detroit. They have also picketed the governor's Detroit office at Cadillac Place. Demonstrators have said they may form a human chain around Orr's new office to block the EFM from arriving to work.

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Before You Go

Where Do Michigan Pols Stand On An Emergency Manager for Detroit?
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder(01 of10)
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Gov. Snyder had campaigned aggressively for Michigan voters to keep PA 4, the emergency manager law. After it was repealed, a similar law was passed through (along with right-to-work and other legislation) in December.In a Nov 2012 interview with The Huffington Post, Gov. Rick Snyder argued against cities in Michigan like Detroit filing for bankruptcy. "Theoretically, if you were able to do Chapter 9 in an efficient fashion, in a structured fashion, where you had everything lined up, you could actually address some of those issues, probably in a more total approach. But the track record, so far, has been pretty dismal. And the associating stigma of what it does, trying to get people to go there in the interim, is even worse." (credit:(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio))
Andy Dillon, Treasurer, State of Michigan(02 of10)
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Dillon headed the six-member financial review team which declared the city in a state of emergency.At a press conference to announce the team's findings, Dillon said, "We believe there's a financial emergency in the city and that there's no plan in place to correct the situation." "We gave the city every chance to avoid the outcome we're recommending to the governor today." (credit:Michigan State Treasurer Andy Dillon discusses Detroit Financial Review Team in Detroit, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. (AP Photo/The Detroit News, Ricardo Thomas))
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing(03 of10)
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An hour after a state-appointed financial review team unanimously declared that the city of Detroit was in a state of financial emergency, Mayor Dave Bing issued a statement that began with an admission that, yes, the city's finances are in a poor state."Certainly I am not surprised by the findings of the State’s financial review team. My Administration has been saying for the past four years that the City is under financial stress.If the Governor decides to appoint an Emergency Financial Manager, he or she, like my Administration, is going to need resources -- particularly in the form of cash and additional staff." (credit:(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File))
State Senator Coleman A. Young II(04 of10)
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Young issued this statement following the state review team's findings.“This is going to be a usurping of our democracy. I feel this was a set-up from the word go. If the State listened to reform measures suggested by citizens in the City of Detroit, we would not be in this situation. How can the State fix something they are culpable for? I am as outraged as I am heartbroken about this systematic dismantling and take-over of our City. The people will not let this stand, nor will I.” (credit:Senate Dems)
Charles Pugh, Detroit City Council President(05 of10)
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In 2011, Pugh said that city officials had the power to fix the city's finances."“Talking about an emergency manager is a waste of breath,” Pugh told MLive. “We don’t need it. We’re working on a plan.” (credit:City of Detroit)
State Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Detroit(06 of10)
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In an editorial written in Sept. 2012 for MLive.com, Sen. Bert Johnson urged Michiganders to vote "no" on the referendum over PA 4, the emergency manager law."The presence of an EM eliminates, for the duration of the appointment, the rights of voters to elect local officials and displaces them at the time of the appointment. Governments occupied by an EM are inevitably subject to new costs and expenses, forced upon them by the state, without access to new revenue.Simply put, EMs are undemocratic individuals who can singlehandedly craft new laws and operate as an unfunded mandate on local government. PA 4 is unconstitutional and a slap in the face to our Founding Fathers." (credit:Senate Dems)
L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive(07 of10)
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At a Detroit Economic Club panel held during the 2013 NAIAS that included southeast Michigan's four most prominent political leaders, L Brooks Patterson told the crowd that an EM in Detroit was needed to start "kicking ass and taking names." He also said that an EM was preferable to the city going through bankruptcy. "You don't want to go through bankruptcy," Patterson said, according to MLive. "You're going to get some judge in Atlanta or somewhere who knows nothing about the region calling the shots." (credit:Oakland County)
Jo Ann Watson, Detroit City Councilmember(08 of10)
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In a Jan. 2012 letter authored by Watson, who has vigorously opposed the appointment of an EM, she offered many suggestions for lowering Detroit's debt. They included a bailout, renegotiating debt service payments and demanding that banks be held legally and fiscally responsible for issuing subprime mortgages that contributed to foreclosures in the city."Public Act 4 joins the infamous litany of racist, repressive, right-wing, undemocratic policies that challenge the very framework of the Constitution of the United States," she wrote. (credit:City of Detroit)
Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon(09 of10)
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Napoleon has formed an exploratory committee in regards to running for mayor of Detroit in 2013, but has not formally declared his candidacy. He issued a statement following the review team's findings, which included this text.“The worst kept secret in Detroit has been that the financial review team would likely come back with a report that recommends that an emergency financial manager be appointed here in Detroit.“I firmly believe that each and every community has a right to elect local leadership to address that community’s problem and I campaigned to repeal Public Act 4 with that belief,” he said. “That said, it is incumbent upon the local officials to recognize that there is a problem; how dire that problem is; and to make the tough decisions to address them. We have not done that here in Detroit, which is why we are having this conversation today." (credit:BennyNapoleon.com)
Gary Brown, Detroit City Council President Pro Tem(10 of10)
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Brown issued a written statement following the review team's findings. In part, he said the pace of change in Detroit has been too slow."The political will has often not been there to make the necessary and bold fiscal reforms.. Without a doubt, we need the support and accountability that a State of Michigan partnership offers. We cannot address our legacy obligations alone. And, as Detroit goes, so goes Michigan." (credit:GaryBrown4Detroit.com)
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