<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><div><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.833333015441895px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Developments in the Detroit bankruptcy have exposed a double standard in federal bankruptcy law, an injustice in urgent need of congressional reform.</span></div><div><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.833333015441895px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></span></div><div><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.833333015441895px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That is where the legal double standard comes in. In Detroit’s bust, even pensioners have to negotiate new terms; in the housing bust, big banks did not have to negotiate, leaving many homeowners in the dust.</span></div><div><br></div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/26/opinion/double-standards-in-bankruptcies.html?rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&pgtype=article">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/26/opinion/double-standards-in-bankruptcies.html?rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&pgtype=article</a></body></html>