ACLU Archives - The Michigan Star

Commentary: Pro-Life Leaders Must Engage in Battle Against Abortion Ballot Measures Now

February 4, 2024 Michigan Star Staff

Thanks to the Dobbs decision and pro-life leaders, 24 states have laws protecting unborn children at 12 weeks or sooner. Through ballot measures, abortion activists are trying to reverse that progress so anyone can get an abortion anytime, anywhere. These activists are targeting ten pro-life states which have laws that protect 30,000 babies in the womb annually.

The proposed constitutional amendments go far beyond Roe to establish unlimited abortion, eviscerate parental rights, and remove health and safety requirements for women. Though some of the measures include the word “viability,” the broad exceptions in the law ultimately allow elective abortion in all nine months. Ohio Democrats have introduced legislation that does this following the vote on Issue 1 laying bare the policy agenda they are pursuing but denied during the amendment campaign.

Missouri Supreme Court Deals Blow to Republicans in Abortion Ballot Case

November 21, 2023November 21, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled against Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s request to change the language of a proposed abortion amendment’s language Monday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

An appeals court had ruled earlier this month that Ashcroft’s summaries of the amendment were “argumentative” and “politically partisan” because of his use of terms like “unborn child,” which the court considered “problematic.” Ashcroft appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court but the justices declined to hear his appeal, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

ACLU Declares Trump Gag Order to Be Unconstitutional

October 27, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

On Wednesday, the far-left American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) made a surprising statement condemning a federal judge’s attempted gag order on former President Donald Trump.

As Politico reports, the ACLU’s statement came as a shock to many who support the group, as it had been one of Trump’s primary enemies during his presidency, frequently suing his administration to block many of his policies. But in a new friend-of-the-court brief, the ACLU agreed with Trump’s assertion that a gag order by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is a violation of his First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, as well as a violation of the public’s right to hear him speak.

Obama-Appointed Judge Reinstates Kentucky Ban on Child Sex Change Procedures

July 17, 2023July 16, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

A federal judge ruled Friday that Kentucky can enforce its state law which prohibits sex change treatments for minors, according to Reuters.

U.S. District Judge David Hale, an Obama appointee, decided that Kentucky can prohibit the use of puberty blockers and hormone treatments for minors after ruling in June that the state law likely violated the U.S. Constitution, according to Reuters. The decision was made because a federal appeals court reinstated a similar ban in Tennessee ahead of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing both state’s cases together.

ACLU Asks New Acting ICE Chief to Close Detention Centers, Stop Local Police from Arresting Illegal Immigrants

July 8, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is urging the new acting chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to limit arrests of illegal immigrants made by local law enforcement and close detention centers.

The Biden administration’s ICE named Patrick “P.J.” Lechleitner as the new acting chief of the agency at the end of June. The ACLU wrote Thursday that Lechleitner should close ICE detention centers and stop an agency program that allows local law enforcement agencies to make immigration-related arrests.

The Trans Lobby Wants to Make It Illegal in Michigan to Talk a Child Out of a Sex Change

June 16, 2023June 15, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

Transgender activists, hospitals and medical associations are pressuring lawmakers in Michigan to pass a “conversion therapy” ban that critics say would effectively prohibit therapists from helping gender-confused children come to terms with their natural bodies and biological sex.

If enacted, the ban would be another win for activists and their medical industry allies who have helped push more than 20 states to ban clinical attempts to change a minor patient’s “gender identity.” Critics say these laws silence and intimidate therapists who don’t automatically affirm young patients’ transgender status and put them on the medicalization track.

Left-Wing Activists See State Courts as Avenues to Advance Their Agendas

May 28, 2023May 28, 2023 Admin

State courts are quickly becoming a heated battleground for abortion and LGBT issues, with left-leaning groups announcing legal strategies focused on the state level and launching efforts to educate the public on their role in electing local judges.

ACLU Sues to Block Biden Asylum Ban

May 13, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit late Thursday against the Biden administration’s new asylum ban, which is intended to mitigate a surge in immigration following the end of Title 42, a public health policy that allowed the U.S. to expel migrants entering illegally.

The lawsuit alleges that the policy, which makes migrants who illegally enter the U.S. after failing to seeking protection in another safe country they have passed through ineligible for asylum, “attempts to resuscitate and combine the illegal features of the two previous asylum bans” the Ninth Circuit previously struck down.

ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Bill Banning Transgender Medical Procedures for Minors

May 5, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Kentucky filed a lawsuit Wednesday to challenge a bill that bans minors from having access to transgender medical procedures, according to the lawsuit.

Senate Bill 150, in addition to prohibiting medical professionals from offering services to minors to “alter the appearance or perception of the minor’s sex,” the law also compels schools to inform parents if their child requests a pronoun change and bars students below sixth grade from learning about “human sexuality.” The bill was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear but then overturned by the legislature, prompting the state’s ACLU branch to file a lawsuit Wednesday in an attempt to stop the bill before it goes into effect in June.

Border Patrol Union Tells ACLU ‘Go to Hell,’ Urges Votes for Pro-Border Defense Candidates

November 6, 2022November 5, 2022 The Center Square

After another clash with foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S., the union representing Border Patrol agents is urging Americans to vote on Nov. 8 for candidates who will defend them, the rule of law, and the southern border.

On Monday, mostly single male Venezuelans, Mexicans and Hondurans crossed the Rio Grande River and attempted to illegally enter the U.S. near El Paso, Texas, and allegedly assaulted Border Patrol agents demanding to be let into the country.

Commentary: Cake Maker Jack Phillips Is STILL in Court

October 10, 2022October 9, 2022 Admin

The endless travails of the Colorado Christian baker Jack Phillips are a measure of America’s pathetic descent into coercive secularism. Phillips has spent at least a decade in court, beating back the ludicrous claims of ACLU-style militants who can’t rest until everyone has been dragooned into the LGBTQ revolution. Phillips was at first persecuted for declining trolling customer demands that he design cakes for gay nuptials. He survived that assault, but now faces fallout from the transgender lobby’s mau-mauing of his business. In 2017, a man pretending to be a woman sued him for not designing birthday cakes in honor of “gender transitions” — an obvious nuisance suit that the state of Colorado and activist judges have humored. Phillips is back in court fighting it.

National Archives Lawyer Central to Mar-a-Lago Raid Documents Sued Reagan While at ACLU

September 1, 2022August 31, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

The general counsel for the National Archives and Records Administration, who was central to coordinating between NARA and former President Donald Trump’s attorneys regarding the documents at Mar-a-Lago, previously sued then-President Ronald Reagan in 1989 while working at the American Civil Liberties Union.

‘Find Another Job’: Oklahoma Officials Respond to Teacher Quitting over CRT Ban

August 29, 2022August 28, 2022 Admin

Oklahoma officials are calling for teachers pushing Critical Race Theory (CRT) to leave the classroom after an Oklahoma teacher spoke out against the states’ education law following her resignation.

Summer Boismier quit her high school teaching position at Norman Public Schools in Norman, Oklahoma, after she shared a QR code in her classroom linking students to “Books Unbanned,” a program through Brooklyn Public Library, that allowed students to access books prohibited from being taught by a state law. The law, HB 1775, prohibits teaching that one race or sex is superior to another, with the intent to prevent the teaching of CRT and certain elements of gender ideology.

ACLU Demands That the U.N. Force America to Pay Reparations

August 12, 2022August 11, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

The far-left American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called on the United Nations to demand that the United States hand out reparations to African-Americans over past issues such as slavery.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the ACLU, along with several other left-wing groups such as Human Rights Watch, sent their demands to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, calling on the international organization to force Joe Biden to announce “immediate, tangible measures” to “dismantle structural racism” in the United States.

11th District GOP Chairman: ‘Promote the Vote’ Should Be Called ‘Rigging the Vote’

August 2, 2022August 2, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

A Democrat leaning organization recently filed signatures that calls for a new constitutional amendment in the upcoming 2022 election.

Promote the Vote, which successfully ran a ballot proposal that created no-excuse absentee voting and same-day registration in 2018, turned in nearly 670,000 voter signatures, significantly more than the roughly 425,000 required.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron Asks State Court of Appeals to Reinstate Pro-Life Laws

July 2, 2022July 1, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron quickly asked the state’s Court of Appeals to stay a circuit court’s ruling that temporarily blocked the enforcement of two state pro-life laws. Cameron filed a Writ of Mandamus and Prohibition Thursday, requesting the Kentucky Court of Appeals lift a temporary restraining order against both…

Report: Biden Considering $450,000 Payments to Illegal Immigrant Families Separated at Border

October 30, 2021October 29, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

The Biden administration is considering paying illegal immigrant families who were separated at the border under former President Donald Trump’s policies up to $450,000 per person, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The illegal immigrants filed a lawsuit claiming the federal government detention resulted in major psychological trauma, according to the WSJ. Most of the families were made up of one parent and child who could receive around $1 million in payouts, though the amount could vary by family depending on the circumstances.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) represents some of the families involved in the lawsuit against the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security (DHS) and Health and Human Services, the WSJ reported. Around 940 families filed claims and the number of those who might qualify for the settlement is expected to be lower.

Commentary: Schools with Mask Mandates Didn’t See Statistically Significant Different Rates of COVID Transmission from Schools with Optional Policies

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

Group of young students at table, reading and wearing masks

The ACLU on Tuesday announced it is bringing a lawsuit against South Carolina over its mask policy.

The Palmetto State is one of seven states—along with Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah, and Florida— that have policies in place banning schools from having mask policies. Thirteen states, meanwhile, have laws that mandate masks in schools. The majority of states (30) allow school districts to determine their own mask policies.

ACLU Leads 113-Group Coalition Demanding Biden Stops Lethal Airstrikes

July 1, 2021June 30, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote a letter cosigned by a coalition of 113 groups to President Joe Biden Wednesday, demanding he stops “lethal” airstrikes.

The U.S. airstrike program has resulted in wars, violent conflicts, civilian casualties, human displacement and indefinite military detention, the groups wrote in the letter addressed to President Joe Biden. The letter demanded the president end the program roughly two decades after it was initiated.

Montana Attorney General Bans Critical Race Theory

June 1, 2021May 31, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

"End Racism Now" sign and "Black Lives Matter" in a crowd

The highest-ranking prosecutor in the state of Montana has declared Critical Race Theory to be a violation of state and federal law, and has banned the far-left theory in Montana’s schools, as reported by ABC News.

Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R-Mont.) made his announcement on Thursday, after he was asked for his opinion by the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Erise Arntzen (R-Mont.). His declaration bans the concept not only from Montana’s schools, but from employee training as well.

The far-left American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a statement criticizing Knudsen’s decision, falsely accusing him of attempting to “impose an alternate version of American history – one that erases the legacy of discrimination and lived experiences of black and brown people.”

Under Pressure from Activists, Biden Admin Agrees to Bring in Thousands of Refugees a Month

May 19, 2021May 18, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

The Biden administration will admit more than 7,000 migrant refugees into the U.S. monthly as part of negotiations in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union over a Trump-era rule prohibiting migrants from obtaining asylum during the pandemic, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump implemented public health order Title 42 which allowed border officials to rapidly expel migrants from the U.S. and prevented them from applying for asylum due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AP reported. The Biden administration’s concessions would change how border officials rely on Title 42 and potentially allow more migrants to seek asylum in the U.S.

The Biden administration and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) agreed to “a streamlined process for assessing and addressing exemption requests brought by particular vulnerable families and other individuals,” ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said, according to the AP.

ACLU Asks Biden Admin to Shut Down ICE Detention Facilities

May 1, 2021April 30, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

The American Civil Liberties Union asked the Biden administration to close 39 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in a letter Wednesday.

People in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody reportedly experienced sexual abuse, forced sterilization, increased use of force and solitary confinement, according to the organization. The ACLU wants ICE facilities with previous reports of inhumane treatment and those located in remote locations to be closed.

“Closing detention sites should be an easy decision. Millions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted to maintain thousands of empty beds and keep asylum seekers and immigrants in inhumane and life-threatening conditions,” ACLU Senior Advocacy and Policy Counsel Naureen Shah said in a statemen

ACLU Warns of ‘Unchecked Power’ After Facebook, Twitter Suspend Trump

January 12, 2021January 12, 2021 Admin

A legislative counsel member from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday warned that the suspension of President Donald Trump’s social media accounts wielded “unchecked power” by large tech companies, Breitbart reported.

Kate Ruane, a senior legislative counsel at the ACLU warned in a statement that the decision to suspend Trump from social media platforms could set a precedent for big tech companies to silence less privileged voices.

Investigation Finds Georgia Officials Decline to Prosecute or Correct the Double Voters They Catch

December 15, 2020December 15, 2020 RealClearWire

More than 1,700 Georgians were singled out for illegally casting two ballots in 2020 elections – including last month’s hotly contested presidential race – but their fraudulent votes weren’t canceled out, according to state election officials. And so far, none of the cheaters has been prosecuted, raising concerns about continued fraud as Georgia prepares to vote again in twin U.S. Senate runoff elections next month.

Commentary: George Soros Has Spent a Lifetime on Liberal Influences

August 16, 2020August 15, 2020 Michigan Star Staff

This week, billionaire financier George Soros celebrates his 90th birthday. That’s a big number, but it’s dwarfed by another Soros number: 708 million.

That’s the cash his two principal foundations poured out just in 2018 (the latest year publicly known), and precious little went to any ballets, symphonies, or art museums.

Judge Tosses Out ACLU’s Attempt to Stop a County from Cooperating with ICE

April 10, 2020April 9, 2020 Michigan Star Staff

A judge in Colorado dismissed a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against the Teller County Sheriff’s Office that argued it was breaking the law by cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Judge Rejects Demand to Release Illegal Aliens in ICE Detention

March 21, 2020March 20, 2020 Michigan Star Staff

A federal judge swatted away an attempt by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to release a group of illegal aliens in a Washington state detention center amid the coronavirus outbreak.

ACLU Lawsuit Demands ICE Release Illegal Aliens ‘At Risk’ of Coronavirus Complications

March 18, 2020March 17, 2020 Michigan Star Staff

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), demanding the agency release all detainees deemed to be “at risk” of health complications, should they contract the COVID-19 virus.

Attorney General Nessel Joins Legal Effort to Block Ohio’s Down Syndrome Abortion Ban

March 12, 2020March 11, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of attorneys general in opposing an Ohio law that bans abortions from being performed on the basis of a Down syndrome diagnosis.

ACLU Sues Seven Texas Cities That Declared Themselves ‘Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn’

March 2, 2020March 1, 2020 Michigan Star Staff

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing seven Texas cities that have declared themselves “sanctuary cities for the unborn.”

ICE Slaps Another ‘Sanctuary’ State with Subpoenas to Force Cooperation

February 18, 2020February 18, 2020 Michigan Star Staff

Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) served immigration subpoenas to the State of Connecticut demanding information on three criminal illegal aliens, whom local officials refused to hand over and instead released back into the community, ICE said in a statement.

Gov. Whitmer Says It’s Unconstitutional for State to Help Nonpublic Schools Comply with State Laws

December 10, 2019December 9, 2019 Anthony Gockowski

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said it’s “constitutionally prohibited” for the state to provide financial assistance to nonpublic schools in a recent legal brief.

ACLU Sues to Make Trump Administration Pay Migrant Families Separated at Border

October 6, 2019October 5, 2019 Michigan Star Staff

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday, demanding the federal government pay damages to migrant families who were separated under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy.

Michigan’s ACLU Files Complaint Against Peter Meijer After Preventing a Down Syndrome Drag Performance at His Building

September 7, 2019September 6, 2019 Zachery Schmidt

Michigan’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) branch filed a complaint Thursday against congressional candidate Peter Meijer alleging he discriminated against a group of down syndrome drag performers after he prevented them from performing at his building.

Groups Sue to Block Trump Administration’s Expansion of Rapid Deportations

August 8, 2019August 8, 2019 Michigan Star Staff

Advocacy groups sued the Trump administration on Tuesday in an effort to block a rule published last month that expands the number of migrants who can be subject to a sped-up deportation process without oversight by an immigration judge.

Pro-Abortion Groups Sue Over Missouri Law Banning Abortion After 8 Weeks

August 2, 2019August 2, 2019 Michigan Star Staff

Pro-abortion groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Missouri government officials over a ban on abortions after eight weeks that the state passed in May.

ACLU Accuses Trump Administration of Continuing Family Separations at Border

August 1, 2019August 1, 2019 Michigan Star Staff

In a court filing on Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union accused the Trump administration of separating nearly 1,000 migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border after a court order to end the practice.

Judge Allows ACLU of Michigan to Represent LGBTQ Student Group in Gender Identity Lawsuit

July 23, 2019July 22, 2019 Jason M. Reynolds

A federal judge in the Western District of Michigan on Friday granted the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan’s motion to intervene and represent a student-run LGBTQ support group in a gender identity policy lawsuit, the organization said Monday. The ACLU filed the motion in March 2018 for the…

Ohio Cities That Use Traffic Cameras for Tickets Will Be Financially Punished Starting This Month

July 6, 2019 Admin

by Tyler Arnold Starting this month, any local government that uses traffic cameras to issue tickets will be financially punished by the state. To discourage localities from using these cameras as a means to generate revenue, state government will remove all financial incentives for using them. The state will…

Ohio Cities That Use Traffic Cameras for Tickets Will Be Financially Punished Starting This Month

July 6, 2019July 5, 2019 Admin