News & Commentary

Revelations about civil rights violations have been bountiful this past week. We have discovered that black people are arrested for marijuana possession at a very disproportionate rate; activists have been told that they cannot hand out flyers on public sidewalks; and the government has been tracking innocent citizens’ phone calls.

It looks like the summer of 2013 is shaping up to be just like that of 2012 – all about vagina. Tomorrow morning, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers is holding a hearing that could be the first step towards ignoring the will of the people and forcing policy that would endanger women’s health through the legislature. If the Board approves petition language for this extreme ballot proposal, it would mean that opponents of reproductive rights would have a shot at enacting a law that cannot be vetoed by the Governor or challenged in the courts. Join us tomorrow at the State Capitol to make it known that we are not going down without a fight.

The ACLU of Michigan and the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project filed a federal lawsuit today challenging the Grand Rapids Police Department’s longstanding practice of arresting innocent people for criminal trespass on commercial property without warning and without the business owner's knowledge.

Think twice before parking your car in Grand Rapids.

In each of the last five years, more than 90,000 youth were incarcerated in adult jails and prisons in the U.S. Although the practice of incarcerating youth as adults has become increasingly common in the U.S., the rest of the world views the practice as a human rights violation.

The use of drone technology is predicted to explode in the next few years, but current legislation regulating their use says nothing about your privacy. 

During the December 6, 2012 “lame duck” session of the state legislature, the Capitol doors were locked for several hours, keeping out thousands of people who had gathered at the Capitol to protest proposed legislation.While the doors were locked, the legislature passed several controversial bills, including the unpopular “Right to Work” bill whose validity is now being challenged by the ACLU of Michigan.Join the ACLU of Michigan Metro Detroit Branch to hear a discussion of the lockout and our lawsuit challenging the validity of the Right to Work Act at our annual meeting.

Are Michigan's labor unions beating against a locked door? In your civil liberties update for the week, a big step towards invalidating the so-called Right-to-Work law and we're fighting for Michiganders access to both medical marijuana and justice. 

For decades, law enforcement has struggled with the proper, legal application of non-lethal weapons. From rubber bullets to chemical mace, technology has come a long way, but there is still no substitute for proper training. Especially when you're talking about a couple thousand volts electrifying a human body.