News & Commentary

Twenty-five years ago, President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark civil rights law designed to guarantee Americans with disabilities broad rights and freedoms. Tragically, however, stubborn stereotypes, combined with narrow court rulings, have robbed many Americans of the rights promised by the ADA.Today, the ACLU of Michigan and the National ACLU asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that would tear down court-imposed barriers that prevent people with disability from realizing freedoms promised by the ADA.Our client is Ehlena Fry, a bright girl with cerebral palsy. Her school barred her from bringing her service dog with her to kindergarten even though the dog was critical to establishing her independence. Before she had a service dog, Ehlena depended on her parents and aides to do even simple tasks for her such as opening doors, turning on lights and maintaining balance.However, when Ehlena was five years old, generous contributions from neighbors allowed the Frys to add a new member to their family to help their daughter do these and other tasks: a cute, doctor-prescribed, mobility assistance Goldendoodle named Wonder.Much to Ehlena’s dismay, the school officials at the Napoleon School District refused to accommodate Ehlena and allow Wonder to accompany her to school. When the ACLU intervened, the school allowed Wonder in the school on a temporary basis, but the dog was relegated to the back of the classroom and could not even accompany Ehlena to recess. The Frys filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education and decided to homeschool their child while they waited for a ruling.Two years later, OCR issued a strong ruling rebuking the school district for violating Ehlena’s rights under the ADA. To settle the matter, the school district reluctantly agreed to allow Wonder to come back to school. But when the Frys met with school officials to make arrangements, they realized that the administrators resented Ehlena and that, if she returned, she would face hostility.The Frys placed Ehlena in a public school in a neighboring district, where both she and Wonder were welcomed with open arms. With the help of the ACLU, the family then filed

When Gov. Rick Snyder and a clutch of other officials stood shoulder-to-shoulder in Flint on Thursday to announce that the city would soon be returning to the Detroit system for its drinking water, a few important points were either glossed over or missed completely.

Something genuinely exciting happened this past week in the Michigan House of Representatives:

In the past few weeks, the problem of lead in Flint’s drinking water has quickly gone from being a story largely ignored by the mainstream media to a scandal that’s making headlines nationally. Faced with overwhelming evidence, state and local officials who adamantly insisted for months that there was no problem have been forced to admit that their unequivocal assurances were completely false.

In June of 2011, Gov. Rick Snyder stepped behind a microphone at Detroit's Renaissance High School to announce the start of a revolutionary new approach to education in Michigan.

Below are some of the thousands of Educational Achievement Authority emails (edited for length and clarity) obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and provided to the ACLU of Michigan.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

As its analysis of water samples from more than 275 homes is wrapping up, researchers at Virginia Tech have come to a distressing conclusion:

This month heralds the beginning of a new school year—a time of excitement, hope and promise for most our state’s children.