Michigan ACLU

Michigan ACLU declares Ann Arbor Public Schools' decision 'unconstitutional'

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 20:17:20 +0000

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan said that Ann Arbor Public Schools' decision to charge students $100 per semester to take a seventh hour class is illegal, because it violates the State Constitution.

The ACLU's press release cited the Michigan Constitution, which says that "the Legislature shall maintain and support a system of free public elementary and secondary schools as defined by law."

It continued:

In Bond v Ann Arbor School District, the Michigan Supreme Court held that the guarantee of free public education extends to any school district activity that is considered a "necessary element of any school's activity" or an "integral fundamental part of the elementary and secondary education."

Blacks more than 3 times as likely as whites to be arrested for pot possession

Sarah Cwiek — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 01:58:39 +0000

Blacks are 3.3 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession in Michigan, according to a new report from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The study shows Michigan’s racial discrepancy is close to the national average, despite the fact that blacks and whites use marijuana at roughly equal rates.

ACLU and Republican Congressman to talk drones in America and indefinite detention

Lindsey Smith — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Congressman Justin Amash (R-Grand Rapids) and the American Civil Liberties Union are teaming up to talk about national security.

Amash is more libertarian than many Republicans. While he and the ACLU don’t see eye to eye on everything, ACLU of Michigan Deputy Director Mary Bejian called Amash “one of the ACLU’s strongest allies in congress on these important national security issues.”

The ACLU wants to know what some Michigan law enforcement agencies are doing with military equipment

Steve Carmody — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 21:56:31 +0000

The American Civil Liberties Union is asking police departments in Michigan for information about their use of military-style weapons and tactics.

The ACLU sent public records requests this week to police departments in Detroit, Flint and Dearborn, as well as the Michigan State Police. Similar requests were sent to cities in 22 other states.

ACLU says Michigan law enforcement agencies need a uniform policy on the use of tasers

Steve Carmody — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:18:58 +0000

The American Civil Liberties Union is raising questions about how Michigan police officers and sheriff’s deputies use tasers.

Tasers have become an important tool for law enforcement agencies across Michigan. The devices are used to incapacitate individuals with a high voltage electric shock.

But the ACLU says there is not a uniform policy among Michigan law enforcement agencies for when to use a taser.

Stateside: ACLU files suit against right-to-work legislation

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 22:08:03 +0000

The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.

Today the ACLU filed a lawsuit against right-to-work legislation.

Michigan Public Radio's Jake Neher spoke with Cyndy about the suit and its potential implications.

“They say for about four hours on the day right-to-work started moving through the legislature, the doors were closed. They say that that violates the Michigan Constitution which guarantees the residents of Michigan the right to assemble. There were people from the public inside at the time, they just weren’t letting in others," said Neher.

According to Neher, people across the state feel as if their voices are underrepresented.

“The people that brought this bill up say that they’re concerned that a win-or-take-all system for votes leaves people in certain parts of the state without a voice,” said Neher.

ACLU and Detroit suburb fight medical marijuana battle in court

Sarah Cwiek — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 21:12:26 +0000

A Wayne County Circuit Court Judge has heard arguments in a case that involves Michigan’s medical marijuana law.

The Michigan ACLU is suing the city of Livonia (and two other Detroit suburbs with similar laws) on behalf of Linda Lott, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.

Lott and her husband want to grow marijuana on property they own in Livonia. But the city passed an ordinance prohibiting any activity that violates federal law.

Report calls Michigan's public defender "abysmal"

Sarah Cwiek — Wed, 18 May 2011 20:26:53 +0000

Michigan’s system of providing lawyers for indigent defendants is so bad it amounts to a “constitutional crisis.”

The Michigan ACLU and the Michigan Campaign for Justice produced the report called “Faces of Failing Public Defense Systems.”

It profiles 13 men who spent time in prison, even though there was evidence of their innocence.

Michigan high school to have gender-neutral prom court

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 23:24:23 +0000

Students at Mona Shores High School in Muskegon will no longer vote for a prom king or queen.

Instead, they’ll vote for a gender-neutral prom court.

The change is the result of pressure from the ACLU of Michigan and Mona Shores students after a popular transgender student was elected homecoming king.

The school denied the student, Oak Reed, his crown because school records list him as a female.