News & Commentary

WASHINGTON—There was much partisan heat generated, but very little light shed, when Gov. Rick Snyder and U.S. EPA administrator Gina McCarthy appeared recently before a congressional committee to answer questions about their roles in the Flint water crisis.

What we have come to learn about the Flint water crisis over the past several months—including the fact that a city of 100,000 people was left exposed to alarming levels of lead in its drinking water for nearly two years—has left our state reeling and our nation angry in disbelief.

The ACLU of Michigan documentary “Here’s To Flint” is a searing examination of the origins of the Flint water crisis and the determined efforts of Flint residents, activists and researchers to learn the truth about the city’s lead-contaminated drinking water.

ACLU at the Michigan Capitol – March 7, 2016

Individuals who contribute to racial inequities and discrimination are not always motivated by purposeful racial hostility.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for the case Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt—the greatest challenge to abortion rights before the high court in more than 20 years. What’s at stake for abortion rights, you ask? In a word: everything.

Parenting, as any mother or father will readily admit, is a tough job. In Flint, Mich., however, that job has become a whole lot tougher since the city’s water supply was poisoned.

ACLU at the Michigan Capitol – February 22, 2016

By now, you've surely heard about the Flint water crisis. And you probably know why it happened: After the state of Michigan suspended democracy in the impoverished, predominantly African-American city, emergency managers appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder were given absolute power to make unilateral decisions that resulted in the lead poisoning of the municipality’s water supply.