Krystal Crittendon, head of the city of Detroit's law department, has thrown city government into a constitutional crisis.
And, as Nancy Kaffer of Crain's Detroit Business writes, it's mainly because of the new charter, which Detroit voters approved last November.
In the old charter, the Law Department was a part of the executive branch. Under the new charter, it's an independent and co-equal part of government.
And the Law Department head is empowered to enforce charter compliance, something that wasn't a part of the old charter.
The state and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing disagree about whether Bing can call Crittendon off; the state's letter to Martin cites a section on civil litigation that says Crittendon acts at the mayor's behest, but Bing's response indicates that he believes the section on charter compliance allows Crittendon to act more or less independently.
It's a mess.
