In the wake of an on-field brawl that involved only some members of the football teams of Detroit’s Cody and Martin Luther King High Schools, school officials summarily suspended all players on the teams’ rosters from school.  In October 2015 the ACLU of Michigan sent a letter to the school district about the denial of due process for the affected students.  The students were not provided with hearings or other opportunities to hear any evidence against them and to defend themselves against the accusations.  The letter also highlighted the overuse of suspensions in maintaining the school-to-prison pipeline, and we urged officials to consider use of restorative justice practices in addressing disciplinary issues of this nature. 

(ACLU Attorneys Mark Fancher, Amy Senier and Michael J. Steinberg.)