The $816-million art-for-pensions deal that a federal judge helped craft for Detroit does not hold up from a legal standpoint, according to a Washington Post writer.

Although "clever and imaginatve," the scheme to save city-owned art in the Detroit Institute of Arts from being sold to satisfy Detroit's creditors is fatally flawed, according to writer David Skeel, a bankruptcy law professor.

While the deal would pay Detroit's pensioners,, bondholders would not benefit as well from the "Grand Bargain" that would move the city-owned art to private control. Skeel says the deal falls flat because it "discrimnates unfairly" against some creditors.