Student attorneys: Amy Ciardiello, Martese Johnson, Will Walker, and Patrick McDonell. Nonetheless, the Detroit Police Department have used military tactics against DWB members.įor example, when DWB peacefully blocked traffic to protest federal officers coming to Detroit, the police responded by shooting protesters with rubber bullets, beating them with batons and shields, using deafening and disorienting sound cannons and flash grenades, deploying tear gas, pepper spraying handcuffed activists, and placing protesters in dangerous chokeholds.ĬRLI is providing assistance to the National Lawyers Guild, who represents the plaintiffs. The protests in Detroit have been remarkably peaceful, and the isolated incidents of vandalism have not been carried out by DWB or its members. Student attorneys: Liza Davis, Martese Johnson, Katie Chan, and Anna Belkin.ĭetroit Will Breathe (DWB) is a non-profit organization that has been protesting in the streets of Detroit every day since the murder of George Floyd in May. The letter calls for an independent investigation of the racial climate by an outside civil rights organization, a race discrimination complaint system, and the dismissal of the problematic teacher. Specifically, this teacher regularly insulted Black students and their parents in front of the class, used coded language to criticize Black students as “criminals” and “delinquents” touched Black students without their consent and humiliated Black students who are struggling in class by placing their grades up on the smart board. The letter also pointed out the particularly egregious conduct of one long term teacher. We also sent a 14-page demand letter to the Ann Arbor Public Schools setting forth examples of problems at the school, including: an online competition in an economics class to see who could own the most slaves by the end of the exercise harsher punishment of Black students than white students for similar conduct and discriminatory treatment of the Black Student Union. In August, CRLI filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights on behalf of Makayla Kelsey alleging that a racially hostile environment exists at the Pioneer High. Racially Hostile Environment at Pioneer High Schoolįor generations, Black students and other students of color have felt that they were second class citizens at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor.Student attorneys: Diane Kee, David Fegley, and Liza Davis. We believe there is no better way to “bring home” the fact that white supremacy is pervasive – even in “progressive” cities like Ann Arbor – than for a resident to learn that the deed of their house prohibits BIPOC from living there. We are currently in the process of creating an interactive online map that will allow people to see the exact language of racial restrictive covenants on individual homes in Ann Arbor. We have created an impressive advisory board of community leaders and U-M scholars to guide our work. Thousands of homes in Ann Arbor have a provision in the deed that prohibits non-white people from occupying the house “except as servants.” While no longer enforceable, these racially restrictive covenants have caused immeasurable harm to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and they are responsible, in part, for today’s segregated neighborhoods and the racialized wealth disparities between Ann Arbor residents.ĬRLI has initiated a project to (1) expose the fact that these covenants still exist, (2) educate the community about the present impact of racially restrictive covenants in Ann Arbor, and (3) eliminate or modify the racist covenants in all future sales of Ann Arbor homes. Students will work primarily in federal court and will learn how to avoid the many procedural minefields that civil rights litigants face when seeking injunctive relief or recovering damages under 42 U.S.C. Taking depositions and engaging in other discovery.Writing public record requests and demand letters.Researching and developing winning legal theories.Working with impacted communities to identify injustices.Students, under faculty supervision, will gain experience in many of the following areas: Students will work on civil rights cases on behalf of individuals as well as larger impact cases. While the types of cases will vary from semester to semester, students will have the opportunity to work on litigation addressing one or more of the following issues: fair housing, student rights, racial justice, police misconduct, immigrant rights, free speech, women’s rights, LGBT rights, ethnic and religious discrimination, voting rights, disability rights and the right to privacy. About the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative
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