Jaywalking While Latino in Grand Rapids

In 2019 the ACLU of Michigan filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) based on the discriminatory treatment by the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) of Jesus Yanez, a then 15-year-old Latino youth. The teen and his friend were walking on a quiet residential street in Grand Rapids when a police officer approached them with his hand on his holstered gun, told them to put their hands on their heads while he checked if they had warrants, and then, when the teens tried to leave, drew his gun on the youths. Our complaint coincided with several other high-profile incidents of racial profiling by GRPD officers, and community outrage over such selective enforcement of jaywalking laws against children of color helped spur demands for police reform. MDCR, after holding several listening sessions in Grand Rapids, announced an official investigation into systemic racism by the GRPD. The case filed by Yanez remains unresolved, and in July 2023 MDCR initiated litigation against Grand Rapids to compel the city to respond to requests for information needed for the agency’s investigation. In response, the City of Grand Rapids initiated its own lawsuit against MDCR seeking a ruling that a three-year statute of limitations governs MDCR investigations, and therefore the Yanez investigation along with others must be terminated. In August 2023 we filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that Grand Rapids’ statute-of-limitations theory is invalid. The brief explains that MDCR decisions about whether to issue charges of discrimination are made after the agency has conducted independent investigations that include consideration of information provided by parties accused of civil rights violations. The practical implications are that a three-year limitation on charging decisions as urged by Grand Rapids would be impractical, if not unworkable—particularly in cases where the accused party is uncooperative and deliberately delays the investigation until the limitations period has run. The brief also notes the challenges faced by marginalized individuals who lack the resources needed to vindicate their rights, and that MDCR provides such individuals opportunities to have their complaints fully investigated and often resolved in ways that they regard as just. (Michigan Department of Civil Rights ex rel. Ayala v. City of Grand Rapids; City of Grand Rapids v. Michigan Department of Civil Rights; ACLU Attorneys Mark P. Fancher, Dayja Tillman, Miriam Aukerman, Elaine Lewis, and Dan Korobkin; Cooperating Attorney Anthony Greene.)