News & Commentary

One year ago, on Sept. 15, 2015, a press conference was held on the lawn in front of Flint City Hall. Gathered before a small throng of reporters were members of Flint’s Coalition for Clean Water, scientists Marc Edwards and Siddhartha Roy of Virginia Tech and the ACLU of Michigan.

The good news is that lead levels in Flint’s water continue to drop.

Two important cases involving the ACLU of Michigan--one involving water shutoffs in Detroit and the other a challenge to Michigan’s emergency manager law--will be heard by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati next week.

Although it has received scant media attention, a lawsuit filed in late June by members of Detroit’s school board, activists and parents could undo the controversial education system Gov. Rick Snyder and the Michigan Legislature have created for the city.

DETROIT –A federal judge today signaled that the first federal safe drinking water case on the Flint water crisis could proceed over protests from the City of Flint and Michigan state officials.

EXCERPTED FROM THE METRO TIMES

If, as expected, the Detroit Public Schools legislation recently passed by the Michigan House and Senate is signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder, the hijacking of democracy that has been underway since the district was taken over by the state in 2009 will continue with no foreseeable end in sight.

A while back, the ACLU of Michigan joined with other organizations and law firms to challenge the constitutionality of the discredited emergency manager law. The emergency manager law, also known as Public Act 436, is at the root of the poisoning of Flint’s water supply as well as a variety of other evils across the state. The ACLU of Michigan’s participation in this case is only natural given its commitment to the eradication of all forms of discrimination and the political disenfranchisement of communities. The case is now pending before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals because the trial court dismissed all but one of the claims raised in the lawsuit.

Britain's Guardian newspaper deserves kudos for two recent articles dealing with the issue of testing for lead in municipal water supplies. Although one is national in scope, both stories have direct links to Flint, and both build on reporting done last year by the ACLU of Michigan.