News & Commentary

You know things are bad when the best defense you can conjure is incompetence.

DETROIT—Citing concerns about both age discrimination and the stereotyping of teens, the ACLU of Michigan in a letter today urged the owner of the newly renovated Emagine Palladium theater in Birmingham to repeal a policy that prohibits minors unless they are accompanied by an adult or have a $350 “platinum membership” being offered by the theater.

The opening of Birmingham's ritzy, remodeled Emagine Palladium movie theater should be a moment of celebration. Unfortunately, it has been marred by a discriminatory policy that bans most teenagers from the premises.

There is a famous story about President Franklin D. Roosevelt where in a policy meeting he purportedly said: "Alright Gentlemen, I agree with you, now make me do it."

In the past, when we talked about “reproductive rights” being under attack, one could reasonably infer that abortion rights were being undermined. These days, that inference has to be broadened to include everything from access to birth control to access to proper medical care during a pregnancy. That is why we now use the broader reference to “women’s rights” being under attack because, let’s face it, only women have to bear the brunt lawmakers’ obsession with politicizing pregnancy and child birth.

State police in Michigan have been secretly using hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of cell site simulator equipment to locate and track cell phones since at least 2006, according to records obtained by the ACLU and ACLU of Michigan. And although the agency justified its initial purchase of the surveillance gear as "vital to the war on terrorism," the records show that the department used its cell site simulators in 128 run-of-the-mill investigations last year—not a single one of which was for terrorism. The records also highlight the continuing problem of excessive secrecy about use of this invasive tracking equipment.

When rain pelts the lone schoolhouse in Rudyard, Mich., teachers at the Upper Peninsula facility launch into a hurried version of musical chairs, hastily re-arranging students’ desks to dodge abundant leaks. At the same time, students are left to paint over nasty brown water stains that dot the school’s ceiling tiles. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545}

David Stojcevski died, gasping for breath, naked on the cement floor of his cell at the Macomb County Jail, while his jailors watched the life ebb out of him.  24-hour camera surveillance captured Mr. Stojcevski excruciatingly long death. The FBI is investigating. But even without the FBI report, we know that something went terribly wrong. A prisoner who is showing obvious signs of starvation, withdrawal and dehydration, should not slowly die on the jailhouse floor in full view of the cameras. 

In last week’s press conference announcing that the city of Flint would finally be allowed to return to Detroit’s water system, Gov. Rick Snyder made it a point to note that placing blame for the lead poisoning of children is not something he intends to do.