Following a year that marked unprecedented success in the areas of reproductive freedom, voting rights, reform of the criminal legal system, and LGBTQ+ equity, the ACLU of Michigan is looking forward as this new year begins – and a new state Legislature is seated.  

It is imperative that we both protect and build upon the victories achieved in 2022. With momentum on our side, our immediate attention will be focused on the Michigan Legislature and Governor’s Office as we work with coalition and community partners to pass a host of new laws that will protect and expand civil liberties, especially in the areas of criminal legal system reform, LGBTQ+ rights,  voting rights, and reproductive health care.  

With opportunities to move important legislation forward, we will be relying upon your support as much as ever. We will be asking you to engage and take action to contact lawmakers regarding specific pieces of legislation. Just as you rallied to collect signatures and get out the vote in 2022, we will be asking you to tap into that power again in 2023 and build on that momentum to protect reproductive rights and voting rights, expand protections for LGBTQ+ people in Michigan and secure important criminal legal system reforms for a Michigan that is a more just and equitable place for all its residents. The same muscle that expanded voting rights and protected reproductive freedom for generations to come is now even stronger, and ready to flex anew in the weeks and months to come. Our organizing team is working across the state to cultivate relationships with municipal clerks to advance our newly won voting rights under Proposal 2 of 2022 and eliminate barriers to the ballot box as we look ahead to the 2024 election. We’ve seen what is possible when Michiganders organize, and we’re excited to build on the incredible foundation built this past year to ensure all voters have free and fair access to the ballot.  

Alongside our legislative and organizing teams, our formidable legal team will continue its work to defend and advance racial justice, LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights.  We will persist in monitoring our criminal legal system and fighting against unjust treatment that undermine liberty and equality.   And, as always, we remain ready to take action whenever government officials threaten free speech and other civil rights. The ongoing attempts to ban books from libraries, and targeting of the LGBTQ+ students by lawmakers will also be high on our radar. 

Before saying a final good-bye to 2022, I’d like to express the tremendous depth of appreciation and joy last year’s victories brought. Thank you for walking alongside us as we gave it our all to ensure that every person in Michigan has access to reproductive healthcare and access to vote in safe and secure elections. The work was incredibly hard, but it was also  incredibly heartening. It paid off in so many ways, including -refueling faith in the system. It was inspiring to see what we can accomplish when we work together  in the fight to protect and expand our rights. 

We are looking forward to you continuing along with us as we face the challenges and opportunities 2023 will bring. 

Loren Khogali is executive director of the ACLU of Michigan. 

This opinion was co-authored by Loren Khogali and Tony Gant, the director of policy and programs operations at Nation Outside, a non-profit organization that advocates for the rights of formerly incarcerated persons. This submission was also signed by Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan, Detroit Justice Center, Federal Community Defender for the Eastern District of Michigan, Michigan Collaboration to End Mass Incarceration, Michigan League for Public Policy, Michigan Liberation, Michigan Center for Youth Justice, Michigan Voices, American Friends Service Committee, and Safe and Just Michigan.

This op-ed originally appeared on the Detroit Freep Press. 

Last week, a member of our community with a promising legal career lost the opportunity to serve as a law clerk for the Michigan Supreme Court because concerns were raised about his decades-old conviction, for which he had accepted responsibility and served his debt to society.

As representatives of organizations dedicated to equal justice under the law, we are troubled that a member of any court in our state, let alone its highest court, would object to talented, qualified people working in our judicial system based solely on mistakes they made in their distant past.

Excluding people with convictions from employment, public service, or our legal system is inconsistent with the values of our democracy.

When people are convicted of crimes and incarcerated, they do not cease to be members of our communities. They do not cease to have children, families or ambitions that live outside the walls of jails and prisons. They do, unfortunately, face immense obstacles to resuming and rebuilding their lives, after they have completed their sentence, including those exemplified by the recent events at the Michigan Supreme Court.

After surviving a system steeped in racial and economic biases and the hardships of incarceration, people with past convictions continue to be punished through highly restrictive monitoring, surveillance, and registries (for which they are often required to pay onerous fees), not to mention severe social stigma. On top of all that, they face significant impediments when attempting to re-enter the workforce.

Read the complete op-ed on the Detroit Free Press