I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
The U.S. Department of Justice overruled Thursday a decision by Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land to close the Buena Vista Township Secretary of State branch in Saginaw County. The department said the closing could adversely effect minority voter registration and voting rights.
The branch closing was part of a cost-saving measure by Land shuttering nine offices across the state. The suit was filed by the Election Policy Coalition along with the NAACP, ACLU, and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights on the ground that the branch closing violated Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Under Section 5, jurisdictions must demonstrate that a proposed change that could effect voting does not have the purpose and will not have the effect of discriminating based on race, color or membership in a “language minority group.”
In a letter addressed to Michigan Secretary of State officials, Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General Grace Chung Becker states, “The closure of the Buena Vista office, which is the only branch office in a majority-minority township in the County, will significantly lower minority registration.”
The letter was addressed to Brian De Bano, the Secretary of State’s Chief of Staff, and Christopher Thomas, director of elections.
The closing of the Buena Vista branch is more complicated given the new photo ID requirement. Becker continues, “The Buena Vista branch will require Buena Vista residents, 55.6% of whom are black, and 9.6% of whom are Latino, to visit one of the other County or state branches to obtain an ID.”
Jocelyn Benson, an assistant professor of law at Wayne State University who helped file the suit, told the Michigan Messenger, “This is a significant victory for voting rights in Michigan, in particular for voters in Buena Vista Township, to have full and equal access to a Secretary of State branch office.”
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