News & Commentary

When Oakland County voters fill out their ballots for the upcoming election, they will have the opportunity to fundamentally shape the direction of their local criminal legal system and the values that will be pursued. 

Making your voice heard at the ballot box matters. For a transgender person, voting can be intimidating and sometimes humiliating because poll workers often don't understand what it means to be transgender, and what the law says. The good news is that during this election season, transgender people, like other voters, have options available that allow them to vote several ways. The important thing is that you know what those options are, and what rights you have. 

When the ACLU of Michigan People Power Tour packs its virtual bags and rolls into Berrien County for an online event this Tuesday, voting rights and reforming the criminal legal system are expected to be high on the list of issues discussed in this Lake Michigan shoreline community. 

After a career as an engineer in the auto industry, Beverly Hills resident Christine Allen decided to use some of her newly found free time to strengthen democracy after she retired in 2018. She started by volunteering to help pass Proposal 2, a ballot measure that changed the way the state draws congressional districts by taking politicians out of the picture and putting the power in the hands of citizens. 

If, like me, you’ve been reading about the Trump Administration’s troubling attacks on the U.S. Postal Service and are concerned the cuts may be an attempt to suppress voting, I have good news for Michigan voters: You have options that will ensure your vote will be counted in this crucial election. 

When the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration released a report earlier this year recommending sweeping changes to the state’s criminal legal system – changes the ACLU of Michigan’s Smart Justice campaign has been pushing for nearly three years to dismantle a system that locks up far too many people, especially Black people – proponents of reform had reason to be optimistic.

Four years ago, my son Jabari and other Flint schoolchildren poisoned by lead-contaminated drinking water sued the state and local school districts because they were not getting the special education services required by law.

What the woman we’ll call Maria most wants people to know is how very thankful she is, first to God, and then to all the people who worked to get her out of the Calhoun County Jail. Once that gratitude is expressed, though, the message she wants to send is one of alarm over the threat asylum seekers like her endure in county jails during a deadly pandemic. 

For nearly two years, I served as a public defender in Berrien County, representing poor people accused of committing crimes. It was a job that brought me into daily contact with the racism that exists within the criminal legal system here and the human toll it takes.