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.
Attorney James Galen has filed a motion in Macomb Circuit Court on behalf of his client Daniel Allen arguing that the terrorism charge against the 44-year-old Clinton Township man should be dropped. Allen was charged with bio-terrorism under state law following a fight with a neighbor. The neighbor, Winfred Fernandis Jr., alleges Allen bit him [...]
A hearing on motions from groups asking a Macomb County Circuit Court to dismiss bio-terrorism charges against a 44-year-old HIV-positive man has been delayed. The hearing was scheduled before Macomb Circuit Court Judge Peter Maceroni on Monday, but was postponed until May 10 to allow the prosecution time to respond to amicus briefs filed by [...]
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and three Michigan groups who represent or work with HIV-positive individuals have filed an amicus brief in the case of Daniel Allen. Allen, 44, was charged last year with bio-terrorism for allegedly biting a neighbor during a fight. Prosecutors charged him because Allen is HIV-positive. They argue that spit [...]
The man facing charges under Michigan’s bio-terrorism laws has rejected an offer from Macomb county prosecutors. The Macomb Daily reports 44-year-old Daniel Allen was in court Thursday and rejected an offer to plead guilty to a ten-year felony assault with intent to great bodily harm less than murder. He is facing charges of assault with [...]
In a friend of the court filing in Macomb County Circuit Court, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan has asked that bio-terrorism charges against an HIV-positive man be dismissed. The ACLU filed the brief in the case of Daniel Allen, a 44-year-old Clinton Township man. Allen was arrested in October of 2009 following a [...]
Daniel Allen, the 44-year-old Clinton Township man charged with bio-terrorism stemming from an Oct. 18 fight with a neighbor, has asked the FBI to investigate the fight as a hate crime, says Allen’s attorney James Galen, Jr. “My client and I went to the Clinton Township FBI Field Office for two hours yesterday,” Galen said [...]
Daniel Allen, the Macomb County man who has been charged under a state bio-terrorism law for biting someone during a fight, has set up a legal defense fun to help pay the costs of defending against those unprecedented charges. Here is the contact information: The Daniel Allen Defense Fund C/O James. L. Galen Jr. 17097 [...]
From terrorism to discrimination to privacy issues, HIV-related issues made headlines in Michigan in 2009.
1. HIV-as-terrorism case in Macomb County
Perhaps the most watched, and outrageous, HIV related story of 2009 is the situation facing Daniel Allen, a 44-year-old Clinton Township resident who has been charged by Macomb County prosecutors under state terrorism laws.
While the Macomb County Circuit Court has delayed the HIV-as-terrorism case against Daniel Allen until next year, lawmakers and advocacy groups are already moving to address the charges.
The HIV-as-terrorism case involving 44-year-old Daniel Allen of Clinton Township is now the subject of at least two cyber-protests. Allen was charged with terrorism in Macomb County because he allegedly bit a neighbor during a fight in October. The prosecutor, upon learning Allen was HIV-positive, announced he would seek additional charges from the original assault [...]
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