The ACLU of Michigan files lawsuits that impact people’s rights by setting a legal precedent, or affecting the policies and actions of public officials. Our current Fall 2023 Legal Docket details our legal cases and actions taken in 2022-2023.
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Jul 10, 2013
Duncan v. Granholm: Indigent Defense Reform
Criminal Justice
For decades, leaders in the state have recognized that Michigan’s system of representing poor individuals accused of crimes is broken. Michigan provides no administrative oversight or funding for public...
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Jun 19, 2013
Protecting Children from Unnecessary Expulsions
Due Process
Michigan’s so-called “zero tolerance” law for student expulsions is widely misunderstood, including by school administrators.
After hearing from several parents whose young sons were expelled by the...
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Jun 19, 2013
Anti-Bullying Policies Are Constitutional
Student Rights
The mother of two students at Howell High School filed a lawsuit alleging that the school district’s anti-bullying policies violate her children’s rights to freedom of speech and religion because they were...
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May 30, 2013
Class Action Sex Discrimination Case
Women's Rights
In 2010 the ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on the question of whether women who claimed that they were facing sex discrimination at work could file...
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May 29, 2013
Citizenship Checkbox at the Polls
Voting Rights
In 2012 the Michigan legislature passed a bill that would have required voters to check a box affirming their United States citizenship before they can receive a ballot. The measure made little sense...
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May 3, 2013
Coach-Led Prayer in Bloomfield Hills
Student Rights
In late 2012 the ACLU of Michigan learned that the football coach at a public school was leading students in Christian prayer on the field at the end of football games. Because prayer under such...