News & Commentary

The ACLU is defending the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act before the state’s Supreme Court this week, and the stakes could not be higher. Powerful interest groups have filed briefs asking the Supreme Court to declare that the entire medical marijuana law is “void in its entirety” and without effect.If the court agrees, legal protections for more than 125,000 patients and caregivers could be wiped out with the stroke of a pen.The case began almost three years ago when John Ter Beek, a retired attorney and medical marijuana patient, learned that medical marijuana was being banned in Wyoming, Mich., the town where he lived. John suffers from severe and chronic pain in his legs and feet due to a number of serious medical conditions, and his primary care physician recommended that he try medical marijuana in compliance with Michigan law.After he got his medical marijuana card, John found that medical marijuana relieves his pain without the serious side effects caused by pharmaceuticals and his quality of life vastly improved. Soon, however, Mr. Ter Beek found that his ability to use medical marijuana was threatened by a local ordinance passed by Wyoming’s City Council that bans medical marijuana throughout the city.That’s right—even though the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act legalized medical marijuana throughout the state, a city wants to nullify the law with a local ordinance.Mr. Ter Beek filed a lawsuit challenging the local ordinance as a violation of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, and the ACLU agreed to take on his case. In response, Wyoming’s attorneys argued that the city does not have to comply with the state law on medical marijuana, because medical marijuana remains illegal under federal law. The Michigan Court of Appeals rejected Wyoming’s argument and sided with the ACLU in a unanimous decision.But now, with the fate of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act hanging in the balance, the Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to hear Wyoming’s appeal.So a case that began as a challenge to a local ordinance will now test the ability of the citizens of Michigan to legalize medical marijuana under state law.Michigan is one of 20 states that allow medical marijuana under state law, and public opinion polls in Michigan and throughout the country consistently show widespread support for medical marijuana.Although federal statutes do not recognize a “medical” exception for the possession or cultivation of marijuana, the Department of Justice has a policy of not enforcing federal law against patients and caregivers who are complying with their states’ medical marijuana laws.Given the federal government’s own stance on medical marijuana, it is particularly bizarre that the city of Wyoming and special interest groups are trying to use federal law to nullify the entire Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. The Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan and a section of the State Bar of Michigan have both filed briefs asking the Michigan Supreme Court to declare the entire state law void and without effect because it somehow interferes with federal law enforcement efforts.Make no mistake: if these arguments are accepted by a majority of the justices of the Michigan Supreme Court, the progress we’ve made on medical marijuana in Michigan will come to an abrupt and screeching halt.As the ACLU’s brief explains, there is nothing wrong with Michigan’s voters making their own decision not to prohibit medical marijuana even though there is technically no medical exception in the federal statute. Since the founding of our republic, it has been universally understood that the 50 states are “laboratories of democracy” where new laws are tried out on a small scale with the hope that the successful laws can one day be implemented nationwide.By Dan Korobkin, Staff Attorney

When Proposal 2 passed in 2006, it banned race-conscious college admissions policies in Michigan. I was only 16 — too young to vote but old enough to know it would affect the quality and accessibility of education in Michigan. After growing up in a district with a notoriously wide opportunity gap, I felt compelled to find a way to fight this destructive decision.I became a plaintiff in a case contesting the constitutionality of Proposal 2, which will be heard by the Supreme Court on October 15, because the lack of diversity on campus affects not just me and my peers, but the quality of education being provided to future generationsWhen I started school at University of Michigan as a transfer student in 2009, the student body was composed mostly of students admitted before the passage of Proposal 2, and its diversity reflected this. Yet over the next few years, I witnessed firsthand as this diversity declined, bringing the level of discourse and academic rigor down with it.As a graduate of the University of Michigan's School of Education, this decline was particularly troubling. As we entered public schools as student-teachers, my peers and I were confronted with a tough realization --our mentor teachers were doing creative, necessary work to build equitable classrooms, yet many of us were not prepared to participate. The School of Education is nationally recognized as one of the best teacher preparation programs in the world. However, the vast majority of its students are white and middle-class. No matter how rigorous the curriculum or varied the content of the teacher education program, it cannot prepare teachers to teach all students equitably if they are not learning in universities that reflect the diversity of the K-12 classrooms they will enter.The education program at University of Michigan is actively seeking to build a more diverse study body, but there have been roadblocks. Because of Prop 2, admissions officers at U of M cannot consider the race of student applicants as even one factor among many in deciding who would best contribute to the university community and the broader goals of diversity.Conversely, prospective students whose parents are alumni are welcome to call up the admissions office and let them know that they should give a second look to a legacy applicant. But if my classmates and I want to tell the university to consider race of one of many factors, the only thing we could do is enact a constitutional amendment. And I don't have $5 million lying around, which is what experts say is the bare minimum it costs to launch such a campaign.Without an ability to attract and train a diverse student body, future teachers will continue to be largely homogenous, entering classrooms without cultural competence.Today I teach in an elementary school in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. My classroom is named after the University of Michigan and my students are all called "Future Wolverines." They sing "Hail to the Victors" to celebrate learning the parts of speech.I put my college education to use every day as I design curriculum and build community among my kids. However, I wonder if I could have offered my students—the vast majority of whom are African-American--a better, more reflective instruction if Prop 2 had not passed. I wonder if they will have a chance to see themselves among the graduates of U of M.At 16, I believed that Proposal 2 would change higher education in Michigan. Today, I understand those consequences all too well. I hope the Supreme Court recognizes this so that my students have an opportunity I didn't have -- to learn in a diverse university environment that reflects the world we live in.By Molly Nestor

Monday, we celebrated the 11th annual International Right to Know Day, recognizing the right of access to information and the importance of government transparency.

This Wednesday, the House Families, Children and Seniors Committee will consider legislation that would allow adoption agencies the right to discriminate against certain families, denying a home for a child in need.

When a 14-year-old is sentenced to die in prison, everyone involved questions the dignity of a society that would throw away someone so young. As a judge forced to hand down mandatory life sentences to juvenile offenders, I know that better than most. Despite recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and Michigan courts declaring that sentencing children to mandatory life without parole is unconstitutional, 360 people still sit in prison for crimes they committed when they were too young to drive, vote, or graduate high school. The reason? Michigan's harsh, outdated laws don't allow judges to determine appropriate punishments on a case-by-case basis or guarantee a fair opportunity for parole for young people serving these unforgiving sentences. That's why I'm calling on legislators to push for reforms that recognize children cannot be held to the same standards of responsibility as adults. Tell legislators: "Now is the time. Michigan’s laws must be reformed in the interests of true justice." I served as a judge for over a quarter century and witnessed society move away from such harsh punishments. In fact, legislation is in the works to reform the Michigan’s law right now. But it won't happen without your support. Michigan needs to stop this cruel and unusual practice. I've seen firsthand that people can change and that our society is stronger when it can demonstrate mercy. Can you help Michigan move into the future by sending a message to legislators? Can't see this video? Refresh this page. Please note that by playing this clip you may place a cookie on your computer. To learn more, view the ACLU of Michigan's privacy policy.

Public schools charging fees for classes? Police taking innocent people’s cars? Law enforcement detaining people for years without a trial? What’s going on? Find out how all these outrageous practices are occurring and what we’re doing to stop them in this week’s rights review.

The ACLU of Michigan has filed suit on behalf of a peaceful protester who was arrested under a law that doesn’t even exist, the ACLU and a conservative think tank have agreed on an important state and national issue, and a state university has taken an amazing step forward in the world of equal education and opportunities.

From fictions like Fahrenheit 451 to real world events during World War II and the Middle Ages, the destruction of books often appears as a cornerstone of dystopian societies. Unfortunately, it’s looking like we can add Michigan’s educational system to this frightening list.Last week, school workers revealed that a dumpster in Highland Park was filled with books meant for children to read and learn from, taken out of the high school and thrown away on orders from an Emergency Manager. Some in tears, community volunteers recovered what was left of the school’s library: less than 1,000 volumes of a library that once contained 10,000 books and audio-visual materials. In a city where children are struggling to learn to read in schools ill-equipped to teach, it's horrifying to think that educational and cultural materials have been ripped out of the hands of citizens by an all-powerful authority who announced "We are not in the business of libraries."Historically, the destruction of books has been an attempt to censor or silence an aspect of a culture. The Highland Park Senior High School library contained a large and historic collection of black history books, many of which are now lost forever.The “immune” Emergency Manager appointed by Governor Snyder seems to be ignoring this troubling parallel, especially telling in a state where many residents perceive that, in practice, emergency management has been reserved for people of color.Before anyone had heard about the book destruction, we already knew that the great majority of Highland Park students cannot read at grade level and that teaching aides had been ordered to falsify records. We've filed a lawsuit in an effort to guarantee that Highland Park students, and all students in our state, receive a quality education and chance at a bright future.With the dire statistics and worrying reports coming out of the city, it is obvious that Highland Park schools cannot afford to lose a single book. It is outrageous that the EM discarded opportunities for students to learn about their history and culture and to become informed and capable citizens.Michigan public schools are facing hard times, but it is imperative that the best interests of our children, which includes a lifetime of learning and reading, stays the main priority. 

Texas: the state where everything is bigger, including anti-woman legislation. It seems as though there is a competition between states of who can legislate the most extreme violations on women’s health. After a slow start, Texas jumped to the top of that disturbing list this week, as legislators called a special session just to push bills restricting women's rights into law. People in the Lone Star State aren't taking this quietly. Hundreds of women and men have gathered at the Capitol to protest a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks, could lead to the closure of nearly all abortion clinics in Texas, and puts up numerous other barriers preventing women from getting the health care they need. Inside the Texas Legislature, courageous Senator Wendy Davis is standing for women's rights, launching a 13 straight hour filibuster, through midnight tonight.