News & Commentary

 The ACLU of Michigan is tracking hundreds of legal cases and pieces of legislation that impact your civil liberties at any given moment, covering all concerns from free speech to government abuse. That's why we like to point out a few cases that made the news each week, to keep our members and supporters up to date on threats in your neighborhood.

The ACLU of Michigan is tracking hundreds of legal cases and pieces of legislation that impact your civil liberties at any given moment, covering all concerns from free speech to government abuse. That's why we like to point out a few cases that made the news each week, to keep our members and supporters up to date on threats in your neighborhood.

As debate over "religious freedom restoration acts," or RFRAs, heat up around the country and here in Michigan, the threat of religion being used to discriminate grows exponentially. And not only would businesses, nonprofit groups and individuals be empowered to legally discriminate in the name of their faiths, as we've previously warned. That discrimination could come at the expense of the common good.  

Moms Jami and Krista Contreras of Oak Park, Michigan brought their six-day-old newborn into a Roseville pediatric practice for a wellness checkup. The couple was turned away. Why?

Update: Because of members and supporters like you, lawmakers have delayed voting on this discriminatory legislation. We'll keep you posted if this package of bills is reintroduced.

The ACLU of Michigan is tracking hundreds of legal cases and pieces of legislation that impact your civil liberties at any given moment, covering all concerns from free speech to government abuse. That's why we like to point out a few cases that made the news each week, to keep our members and supporters up to date on threats in your neighborhood.

Jacques: Michigan Laws Make Criminals of Us All (Detroit News) Because of Michigan's extensive penal code, however, many everyday activities can cross over into the crime category — putting too many innocent individuals at risk of committing a "crime." A report that came out last fall highlighted just how egregious the situation is in Michigan, and showed how this state's criminal code outpaces its Midwest neighbors.

State Departments Prepare to Extend Benefits to 323 Gay Couples Married in Michigan (Mlive) Jay Kaplan, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan who worked on the marriage recognition case, said it is "hard to enumerate" all of the state benefits that those couples - whose marriages were already recognized by the federal government -- will now be entitled to. A lot of the new benefits are "practical things," said Kaplan, such as the ability to easily change a last name on a driver's license or qualify as a beneficiary on a spouse's state pension. (ALSO: Detroit Free Press, Detroit News)

Last week, a federal judge ruled that Michigan must recognize the marriages of more than 300 couples who legally wed after Michigan’s marriage ban was struck down in March.