News & Commentary

Today, the Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled that the police need warrants to search the cellphones of people they arrest.

This afternoon, we're in court where a federal judge will hear arguments in our lawsuit with the Insane Clown Posse. The lawsuit challenges the FBI’s erroneous and arbitrary designation of all fans of ICP, known as Juggalos, as a “hybrid” criminal gang.

Today, Sterling Heights will vote on an ordinance that would protect its citizens from discrimination, banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, public accommodations, and housing.

Fans of free speech can breathe a sigh of relief, as the State of Michigan has backed off of an unconstitutional policy preventing sitting U.S. Representative John Conyers from being on the August ballot. This comes as a victory for many who felt that the removal of Rep. Conyers from the ballot was unfair and a hindrance to the right of everyone to participate in the political process. This entire debacle stems from a heated situation in which hundreds of signatures that petitioners collected for Conyers’ re-election campaign were invalidated on the grounds that several of the petition circulators were not registered voters required by a Michigan statute. There is no practical need to restrict petition circulators to registered voters and doing so only serves to curb our free speech. The foundation of our political system is rooted in the need for open political processes and communication. An essential part of our political process is that everyone has the ability to be heard. Thankfully, however, Federal Judge Leitman ruled in favor of allowing John Conyers onto the August Primary ballot.  Happily, the state announced that “...based on the facts of the judge's order, the state has decided not to appeal in the Conyers case.” Here at the ACLU of Michigan, we're dedicated to the idea that everyone should have a fair and equal say in government. Hooray for another victory for open communication in politics! James Hendrikson, ACLU of Michigan Intern

Coming home to Detroit after my first year in college at Tufts University near Boston has been made all the more insightful and interesting by having the opportunity to work at the ACLU of Michigan. In my first week here as a Communications Intern, I have been overwhelmed in the best possible way by all of the amazing work being done that remains critical in the fight to protect civil liberties and preserve democracy for all of us. I’d be remiss to pretend as though I was at all aware of the legal battles being fought across the state or what their significance is to the lives of every Michigander… and even at the end of stint here come mid-August, I doubt I will have done much more than scratched the surface of a truly inimitable organization. That said, I hope to document my journey here taking into account not only my unique perspective but more so the common perception of what it is the ACLU actually does, and perhaps more critically: why? I’ll be sharing blogs, photos, legislative snapshots and updates on important work being done by incredible people here at the ACLU of Michigan, all flavored with who I am and what I hope to gain (and give) during my time here. To start this endeavor off, I thought I’d share a few things about myself and what has brought me here to the ACLU, as well as what I’ve managed to digest thus far!

When the rights of one group are threatened by government intrusion, all our rights are in peril.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office recently became the first in Michigan to purchase a Hailstorm device, an incredibly powerful surveillance tool typically used by the NSA and CIA which allows police to routinely spy on thousands of people without them ever knowing.

“Substantial staffing reductions.”

When the ACLU of Michigan Flint Branch held a panel discussion on emergency management last week, activist Claire McClinton pointed out that the event was being held at a site where autoworkers staged a landmark sit-down strike in the 1930s. That action – with workers asserting their rights and making sure their voices were heard – proved to be a pivotal moment in the history of organized labor. In fact, it can be argued that what those union members did went even further than that, helping to strengthen American democracy by increasing the collective clout of the working class and providing a much-needed balance to corporate power. So there’s no small amount of irony in the fact that Flint is now part of what can be called an experiment in anti-democracy. Read the whole blog over at Democracy Watch.