FOR IMMEDIATE USE

October 30, 2015

CONTACT: Darrell Dawsey, ACLU of Michigan, 313-578-6831; ddawsey@aclumich.org

DETROIT—As part of the ACLU of Michigan’s ongoing effort to end unconstitutional debtors’ prisons in Michigan, attorneys for the organization are slated to appear in Macomb County Circuit Court on Monday morning to urge the court to stop an Eastpointe judge from continuing to jail poor defendants for their inability to pay fines.

The opening of Birmingham's ritzy, remodeled Emagine Palladium movie theater should be a moment of celebration. Unfortunately, it has been marred by a discriminatory policy that bans most teenagers from the premises.

DETROIT—Citing concerns about both age discrimination and the stereotyping of teens, the ACLU of Michigan in a letter today urged the owner of the newly renovated Emagine Palladium theater in Birmingham to repeal a policy that prohibits minors unless they are accompanied by an adult or have a $350 “platinum membership” being offered by the theater.

DETROIT – Citing potential constitutional violations, the ACLU of Michigan is urging Detroit Public Schools officials to rescind the mass school suspensions imposed this week on the football teams for Martin Luther King Jr. and Cody high schools in the wake of a post-game brawl.

DETROIT – In a press conference today, Governor Rick Snyder officially announced his appointment of University of Michigan legal professor Joan Larsen to the Michigan Supreme Court. From January 2002 through May 2003, Larsen served as deputy assistant U.S. attorney general in the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel. During her tenure, the OLC weakened the rule of law by issuing several legal opinions authorizing torture, indefinite detention, warrantless wiretapping, and other abuses of power.

MIDLAND – Michigan’s civil forfeiture laws, which enable law enforcement agencies to gain possession of private property, are among the worst rated in the nation and should be changed, according to a new report jointly authored and published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.

Christopher Ratté, a University of Michigan professor, took his 7-year-old son, Leo, to a Detroit Tigers game in Comerica Park. Before they took their seats, Christopher purchased what he thought was lemonade from a stand advertising “Mike’s Lemonade,” and, not knowing that it contained alcohol, gave it to his son. During the ninth inning, a security guard saw Leo with a Mike’s Hard Lemonade and alerted the police.

In 2013 the ACLU of Michigan filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Michigan Supreme Court on behalf of Lance Laird, who was denied custody of his children even though there was no adjudication establishing that he was an unfit parent. Mr. Laird was separated from the mother of his young children, who pleaded no contest to neglect and abuse.

Although Mr. Laird was not found to have done anything wrong, the court ordered that he attend parenting classes and counseling and submit to drug testing order to obtain custody of his children.

In a groundbreaking ruling, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the severe restrictions imposed by the Michigan legislature on former sex offenders long after they were convicted violated the Constitution.  

Before courts recognized that abusive interrogation techniques could easily lead to a false confession and a miscarriage of justice, police routinely administered the “third degree” on suspects they thought were guilty until a confession was obtained.

One form of abuse was to interrogate a suspect incommunicado, which included withholding information that the suspect’s attorney was trying to contact the suspect and was currently available to provide assistance.