Defending liberty

In September 2017 an Ann Arbor police officer unnecessarily grabbed and slapped handcuffs on Ciaeem Slaton, a 16-year-old African American student, at the Ann Arbor Transit Center.  

In response, concerned community members staged a protest about the incident and asked the ACLU of Michigan to investigate. After reviewing a video of the incident and the police report, we sent a letter to the Ann Arbor police department raising questions and concerns about whether the confrontation between Ciaeem and the officer could have been avoided altogether if the officer had proper de-escalation training. The letter requested that the department review its de-escalation and use-of-force policies in light of the incident.

An Ann Arbor police official and the city attorney then met with the Washtenaw County ACLU Lawyers Committee to discuss the incident and explain the new policy and training on de-escalation techniques that the city was implementing. 

(ACLU Attorneys Mark Fancher and Michael J. Steinberg; Cooperating Attorneys John Shea, Nick Roumel, and Gayle Rosen.)

In April 2016 white police officers in Taylor pulled over Calvin, a 26-year-old African American man, purportedly for running a stop sign. Jones’ wife and younger brother were also in the car at the time of the stop. During the encounter, the officers shattered Jones’ window, violently wrestled him from his car, and held him in a dangerous chokehold until he blacked out. 

After his arrest, Mr. Jones was stripped to his underwear and detained for several hours in a cold holding cell. These events began when Jones demanded an explanation for the stop before he would produce his license and registration. Although the officers were not legally obligated to provide an explanation at the time of the stop, doing so is widely considered proper police procedure in order to avoid escalation and reduce tension. 

After learning of the incident, the ACLU of Michigan arranged for Jones’ criminal defense, and his charges were dismissed. We also obtained disturbing dashboard camera footage of the entire episode. 

In May 2017 we filed an internal affairs complaint against the officers involved and publicly released the video footage.  In August 2017, the internal affairs complaint concluded with no finding of fault on the part of the officers, but the department revised its policies to require its police officers to advise all drivers they pull over of the basis for the stop. In addition, the department has instituted mandatory officer training on appropriate demeanor during a traffic stop and how to avoid confrontational situations. 

Since that time we have continued to investigate abuses by the Taylor police. We have obtained highly disturbing video footage of the Taylor police engaging in abusive conduct toward two other persons in the holding cell. In one case it was necessary for us to sue to obtain access to the video. 

(People v. Jones; ACLU of Michigan v. City of Taylor; ACLU Attorneys Mark Fancher and Michael J. Steinberg; Cooperating Attorneys Robert Riley of Honigman, Victoria Burton-Harris, and John Shea.)

The people of Flint are charged the highest water rates in the country even though the water flowing through their pipes was unsafe to drink and 40 percent of residents live below the poverty line. Compounding the trauma, in April 2017 the City of Flint sent approximately 8,000 notices to residents stating that liens would be placed on their homes if water fees from 2015 — during the height of the water crisis — were not paid. Eventually, if the liens were not lifted, they could be used to foreclose on the residents’ homes.

Although the mayor said that the city was merely following state law regarding tax liens for unpaid water bills, in fact the city is under no such legal obligation. In May 2017 the ACLU of Michigan and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) wrote a letter to Flint’s mayor and city council, calling for a moratorium on liens for unpaid water bills. The letter argued that since the city did not fulfill its duty to provide water fit for drinking, Flint residents should not have to pay for it — much less lose their homes over it.

Flint’s city council passed a moratorium on the liens, and the county treasurer announced that she would not foreclose on any homes in Flint over unpaid water bills. However, in April 2019 the city again mailed out over 20,000 notices stating that liens will be issued for unpaid water bills. The ACLU and LDF wrote again to the mayor and the country treasurer, condemning the city’s actions, arguing that there are alternative means of collecting unpaid fees, and requesting that no liens be placed on Flint homes.

(ACLU Attorneys Kary Moss, Michael J. Steinberg and Bonsitu Kitaba-Gaviglio; Sherrilyn Ifil, Coty Montag, Sparky Abraham, and Ajmel Quereshi of LDF.)