Hearings set for Dec. 3 and 4 on two pieces of legislation critical to the LGBT community and beyond. Take action now. If you believe that every Michigander deserves equal protection under the law — with no exceptions — the time to be heard is now. The Michigan Legislature is holding hearings on two pieces of legislation this week that […]

The decriminalization of marijuana has sped up dramatically over the last decade. But we all know that using pot has only generally been a crime for certain people. Last year, 52 percent of the more than 1.5 million drug arrests in the United States involved marijuana. Yet those who have to worry most about arrest for pot use are those […]

Unfair as it may be, there are certain things we northerners think of when you think of southern states. The first is bigotry and intolerance. Another is a near worshipful devotion to guns and anything related to guns. Hunting is part of it but just walking around with a big weapon strapped to your body is a much bigger part […]

Chief Justice John Roberts has known he wanted to gut the crown jewel of the civil rights movement — the Voting Rights Act — since at least the 1980s, when he was a young lawyer in the Reagan Administration. And when he essentially ended the preclearance requirements in 2013 that ensured millions had the right to vote, he said that Congress […]

Like many of you, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Being a literal person, Thanksgiving is a time and an opportunity to give thanks for the many things in our lives that we are truly thankful for and blessed with. The people, the opportunities, the occasions, the events, the connections, and sometimes just being alive. Oh sure, we […]

Since the post-election apocalypse, I have noticed a definitive shift in in the way people are communicating, talking, and thinking. There is a deeper and more pronounced urgency for some, an urgency that I find both impactful and also curious. I have been here before; I have been at this place after a sound beating down where people find themselves […]

She sees the benefits of Obamacare, both personally and professionally. When Judy Stone, M.D., was in private practice as an infectious disease specialist, about one-third of her practice was made up of patients who could not afford to pay. But she never turned them away. “I wasn’t raised to ask for payment,” Dr. Stone says. “I was raised to believe […]

There is one thing that Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has in common with April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, the two women who are challenging Michigan’s bigoted same-sex marriage ban: they both want their case to go to the Supreme Court of the United States as quickly as possible. The difference is that Bill Schuette is using our tax dollars […]

During the 2014 campaign in Michigan, we were told repeatedly that Republicans hadn’t cut education funding. Despite the fact that they had actually taken BILLIONS OF DOLLARS from our schools each year, the told us with a straight face that, despite all of the evidence to the contrary, they had increased funding for our classrooms. Now, just a few weeks […]

Last night after the announcement that a grand jury had failed to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year old in Ferguson, Missouri, I read a comment on Facebook that said, “White privilege is me being outraged and angered by the #FergusonDecision rather than utterly terrified.” It took some time for that […]

The price tag for the attorneys and associated staff that are handling Detroit’s bankruptcy is expected to hit at least $200 million. However, some terrific reporting by WXYZ in Detroit is turning up some scandalous things. The law firms who are running the show are ringing up incredibly large tabs for things like receiving emails, reviewing press coverage, and one is even paid to take a chauffeured car in from another state. …