Free speech victory at Detroit's Cobo Hall

The Michigan Committee Against War and Injustice (MECAWI) demanded and won their free-speech right to distribute informational leaflets and collect petition signatures at the second “Avoid Foreclosure” forum sponsored by Michigan Attorney General Cox in Detroit’s Cobo Convention Center on Feb. 12.

In December, security officers forced two MECAWI organizers to leave a similar event sponsored by Cox that drew more than 4,000 people. Public officials tried to channel homeowners to individual solutions to the housing crisis and banned information on the campaign for a state emergency declaration and moratorium on foreclosures.

On the evening of Feb. 11, people’s lawyer Jerry Goldberg successfully argued for free speech in federal court. Goldberg asserted that the throngs facing the loss of their homes who would be drawn to the “Avoid Foreclosures” forum had a right to know that Gov. Jennifer Granholm had the legal power and authority to declare a state of emergency and immediately stop all foreclosures.

With 72,000 foreclosures in Detroit alone, MECAWI organizers had a right to petition and leaflet inside to address the clear emergency. During the 1930s Michigan and 25 other states declared moratoriums on foreclosures just like the one proposed by MECAWI now. Michigan’s moratorium extended five years, unlike the 30-day freeze proposed by “lenders” for some borrowers at the urging of the Bush administration.

Corralled behind a table by the unhappy Cobo Hall officials, MECAWI organizers found the most common response to the moratorium petition was, “Where do I sign?”

—Report and photo by Cheryl LaBash