News & Commentary

On the day that America pauses to honor the memory and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the ACLU of Michigan asks the federal government to investigate and eradicate racial discrimination and harassment in a Western Michigan school district. In a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the ACLU accuses Paw Paw Public Schools of maintaining an educational environment that discriminates against students and others on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity and national origin.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center applaud Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young’s decision to refuse to hold detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless it presents an arrest warrant issued by a federal judge or magistrate. Today’s decision follows the arrest of Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, who is a U.S. citizen and decorated veteran, but was turned over to ICE by the Kent County Sheriff’s Department at ICE’s request. In a letter to the Kent County Sheriff and Kent County Commission, the ACLU and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) called for an immediate investigation into the detention of Mr. Ramos-Gomez. That investigation has resulted in the new policy to require a judicially-issued warrant for all ICE detainees.

Today the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan and Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) sent a letter to the Kent County Sheriff and Kent County Board of Commissioners, demanding an investigation into how an American citizen and decorated veteran was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for deportation.

Michigan has one of the longest averages for time served in prison in the U.S.1 The average minimum sentence has increased 26 percent, reaching 9.5 years in 2015. The number one reason people are spending more time behind bars is the subjective input of the state parole board, which decides who to release and when.  But this will change with a new law signed by Governor Snyder on Sept. 12 called “Objective Parole,” will result in more people – who have been rehabilitated and are safe to return to their communities – being released from prisons, as well as save the state tens of millions of dollars annually, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), which supports this legislation.

The ACLU of Michigan applauds the decision of U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney that holds the City of Grand Rapids responsible for permitting police officers to arrest innocent people for trespassing at local businesses during operating hours—even when business owners didn't ask them to leave.

A federal judge ruled today that the ACLU’s challenge to Michigan’s practice of allowing discrimination against same-sex couples in the public foster care system can move forward.

Michigan-based Arab American community organizations, families separated by President Trump’s Muslim ban and the ACLU of Michigan renewed their challenge to the ban today in Arab American Civil Rights League v Trump.

The ACLU of Michigan and Promote the Vote (PTV), filed a complaint in U.S. District Court asking that the PTV ballot initiative, a measure to expand voting rights in Michigan, be placed on the November 6th ballot. This follows the State Board of Canvassers and Bureau of Elections failure to properly validate the petition signatures PTV was required to gather to place the initiative on the ballot. By failing to certify these signatures, the state has violated the voting rights of Michigan citizens who support the PTV initiative.

DETROIT – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan today filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Detroit, the Detroit Police Department (DPD), Detroit Police Chief James Craig and several DPD executives and officers.Johnny Strickland, an 11-year veteran of the Detroit police force, is the plaintiff in the legal action. The lawsuit charges the Detroit Police Department and its command officers with allowing a racially h