Take Action: End Racial Profiling in Michigan

While visiting a cousin, Luis Valdez and his mother were assaulted and illegally arrested for no reason other than the color of their skin.

One of the officers even told Luis, an American citizen, that he had no rights.

From Arizona to Michigan, innocent people are being intimidated, harassed and illegally detained based on nothing more than how they look or the sound of their accent.

Racial profiling is not only unfair and un-American, it distracts police from solving crimes with real facts and evidence.

So why is Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette urging the U.S. Supreme Court to make racial profiling a legally-acceptable police practice?



As our state's principal legal officer, the Attorney General should know that racial profiling is bad news for Michigan. Allowing officers to harass people based on stereotypes has a devastating impact not only on innocent families but on our state’s economy and our police departments’ ability to fight crime.

Permitting racial profiling would mean that a simple family visit or a run to the grocery store could turn into a trip to jail for innocent people. This is not the Michigan that you or I want to live in.

Fairness and equality are the most fundamental values we share as Americans. There's nothing fair or equal about arresting citizens and trampling on their rights because of the color of their skin or their ethnicity.

That’s why with your help, the ACLU of Michigan is fighting discriminatory laws and biased police practices across the state, representing people like Luis and his mother.

Attorney General Schuette thinks it’s alright for innocent people to be harassed, intimidated and arrested for no reason other than who they are.

Learn more about issues you care about and take action: become a member, subscribe to our email action alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.