News & Commentary

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.

Hopeful but wary.

In September 2015, when the state of Michigan was still adamantly denying that the water in Flint was contaminated with lead, Hurley Medical Center pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha unveiled a study of Flint children that proved conclusively that the state’s denials were false and that Flint was enmeshed in a full-blown public-health disaster.

ACLU at the Michigan Capitol – May 2, 2016

In 2015, to mark the first anniversary of Flint’s fateful switch to river water, about 100 Flint residents marched through their city’s downtown in protest.

ACLU at the Michigan Capitol – April 21, 2016