Criminal Justice
Grand Rapids police under fire from civil rights groups for Latino arrests
Civil and immigrants’ rights groups in Michigan want the state to put the Grand Rapids Police Department under a microscope. On Tuesday, the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) filed formal complaints with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) over what they allege is a […]
Slotkin to meet with DeVos in May on sexual assault issues
WASHINGTON — Michigan lawmakers have introduced sexual assault legislation that they hope will help prevent situations like the Dr. Larry Nassar scandal that rocked Michigan State University. A bipartisan coalition in the House and Senate — led by U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.) — announced a new bill […]
Top Dem recommends criminal perjury charge for Erik Prince
U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on a live video interview Tuesday morning with the Washington Post that his panel would make a criminal referral about allegedly false testimony given by West Michigan native Erik Prince. Prince, the brother of President Trump’s Education secretary, Betsy DeVos, founded the private military firm Blackwater. […]
AG fires former lead investigator in Flint water criminal probe
The former prosecutor who led the Flint water criminal probe against 15 current and former state or local officials is no longer part of the case, Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office confirmed Monday. The decision to fire Todd Flood was related to the Friday discovery of 23 boxes full of evidence in a government building […]
Susan J. Demas: Michigan GOP’s redistricting scam is part of national power grab
In politics, coverage is almost exclusively driven by the horserace: who’s winning and who’s losing. But in Michigan, a federal three-judge panel just unanimously ruled that the rules of the game here have been fixed since 2011. So in other words, all the endless punditry of brilliant Republican strategy and #DemsinDisarray is even more meaningless […]
Keith’s civil liberties and civil rights legacy lives on
“I don’t scare easily,” Damon J. Keith declared once about threats to his life stemming from his ruling in the seminal 1970 Pontiac public schools integration case. His decision that African American and white students should attend schools together prompted intense pushback from some — including the Ku Klux Klan. Keith’s decades-long tenure as a […]
Judge Damon Keith dies at 96, remembered as ‘crusader for civil rights’
Updated, 2:10 p.m. with comments from Gov. Whitmer and others: Damon J. Keith, the legendary federal judge from Detroit, has died at age 96. An announcement was made on Sunday at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church where he has attended services for the last several years. His passing also was confirmed by his family. Keith was […]
After synagogue shooting, Nessel reiterates need for hate crimes unit
Attorney General Dana Nessel told the Advance on Sunday that another synagogue shooting over the weekend shows the need for the new hate crimes unit she has opened. Hate crimes have risen in Michigan by 30 percent between 2016 and 2017, per FBI statistics. The FBI reports hate crimes have increased for three straight years […]
Second firm sues Michigan over same-sex adoption settlement
Updated 3:48 p.m. “Religious liberty” firm the Alliance Defending Freedom announced on Friday that it has sued Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Attorney General Dana Nessel over the latter’s settlement last month that stipulates that adoption agencies contracting with the state can’t bar same-sex couples. The lawsuit is the second filed against the […]
Nessel joins fight against Trump’s coal plant, water, for-profit college rules
Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined three multi-state efforts opposing the President Donald Trump administration rules on harmful air pollution, wetland regulation and “loopholes in federal laws” that may deceive veterans in school advertisements. Nessel’s office announced in a Friday press release that she has joined dozens of other attorneys general across the country in […]
Law of unintended consequences: Gerrymandering ruling could cut senators’ terms short
A federal court decision Thursday that ordered Michigan to hold special elections in at least 10 state Senate districts next year could cut short the terms — and possibly the legislative careers — of several of the chamber’s senators. That’s something that the Advance first reported in January could be a byproduct of the case. […]
High stakes for Michigan as SCOTUS grapples with census question
WASHINGTON — Census data shapes almost every corner of public life — from the amount of federal money funneled to school lunch programs, new bus routes and rural health clinics to the number of congressional seats allocated to a state. As the country barrels toward the 2020 census, the U.S. Supreme Court must decide if […]