Civil Rights
Anti-abortion group with state contract protested at Mackinac
Updated 5/30/2019, 4:55 p.m. A Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit is blanketing this week’s Mackinac Policy Conference with accusations that a family planning group opposed to abortion is misusing state taxpayer dollars. The nonprofit Equity Forward is accusing that group, Harrisburg, Pa.-based Real Alternatives, of waste and misattribution of funds in its partnership with Michigan, which began […]
Column: More Americans sue over gerrymandered state maps – but the Supreme Court isn’t likely to step in
Partisan gerrymandering is when a congressional or state legislative district map is drawn in a way the severely lessens the ability of one party, the minority party, to compete for seats in an election. The public is more aware of partisan gerrymandering than ever – and less supportive of it. Reform is happening. In 2018, […]
U.S. Supreme Court delays Michigan gerrymandering decision
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Friday that it would put a Michigan gerrymandering case on hold as it weighs other, similar cases in North Carolina and Maryland. The nation’s high court delayed a final determination over the case, which challenges Republican gerrymandering in Michigan. Decisions in the other two high-profile cases in are expected this […]
Voting rights, campaign finance ballot groups challenge petition law
Voting rights and campaign finance ballot groups on Thursday filed a legal complaint challenging a law that makes it more difficult for groups to gather signatures for statewide ballot measures. This comes after Attorney General Dana Nessel issued an opinion Wednesday arguing that key sections the Lame Duck law are unconstitutional. The law, approved by […]
Peters grills acting DHS secretary over child deaths at border
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.) pointedly questioned acting U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan Thursday morning over the state of medical care for minors apprehended at the southern U.S. border. The senator’s cross-examination transformed a routine committee hearing into a referendum over the Trump administration’s controversial border policies. When asked by Peters […]
Julie Cassidy: Too many Detroiters still struggle, despite city’s progress
Ten years after the official end of the Great Recession, many Michigan families are still struggling as rising housing prices outpace post-recession income growth. For people of color, however, the housing crisis isn’t just a recent problem. The newest issue of the Michigan League for Public Policy’s Home, Health, Hope series examines Detroit as an […]
Stabenow says Trump has difficulties with ‘strong, smart women’
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said in a press conference in the Rose Garden that he told top Democrats he wouldn’t strike an infrastructure deal while Congress was investigating his administration. That prompted U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to write her caucus a letter, which was released to the media, in which she said […]
Nessel declares Lame Duck law capping ballot signatures unconstitutional
Attorney General Dana Nessel on Wednesday declared unconstitutional key portions of a controversial law that capped the number of petition signatures that can be collected from a single congressional district. In a statement from Nessel Wednesday afternoon, the Democrat said that “this new law clearly violates the Constitution on several – but not all – […]
Whitmer lends support to equal pay legislation
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer rallied supporters at an equal pay day event Wednesday, saying legislation must pass that bars private companies from asking women about prior salary. The move would enshrine one of the governor’s first executive directives that stops state departments from asking about pay history at private businesses. It’s a measure that is meant […]
In role reversal, ACLU and same-sex couple join adoption lawsuit
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced Wednesday morning that they, along with a lesbian couple that has previously sued the state over their right to adopt, are joining a new lawsuit. And it’s one in which a religious charity is seeking to preserve its ability to deny same-sex couples that right. The ACLU’s intervening […]
Pro-choice rally pushes back against abortion bans
Hundreds of activists chanted, danced and sang, “Hey-hey, ho-ho, abortion ban has got to go!” during a spirited rally held Tuesday evening on the University of Michigan’s Diag in Ann Arbor. The call to action was in response to an intense abortion debate that has re-emerged throughout the country as several state legislatures — including […]
Will Michigan have 2 abortion bans on the 2020 ballot? Probably not.
Alabama, Georgia and Ohio have overshadowed Michigan recently with abortion bans. But now not just one, but two ballot measures could be coming our way for 2020. Of course, the real goal of these abortion bans is for the GOP-controlled Legislature to adopt them before voters have their say. And the beauty of it is […]