The Michigan Civil Rights Commission wants the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case against Gov. Snyder. That’s what commissioners decided with a 5-0 vote Tuesday. They ordered the Michigan Department of Civil Rights to file an amicus brief urging the high court to review the issues raised in the case Bellant v. Snyder. The case makes the claim that Michigan’s emergency manager law, Public Act 436, violates the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting power of people in certain communities, particularly African Americans.
Lower federal courts have dismissed most of the plaintiffs’ claims, including the Voting Rights Act argument. The plaintiffs are now petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to review those claims.
In a resolution supporting the amicus brief, the commission said that brief “shall present the commission’s position that Michigan’s emergency manager law shall be subject to judicial review under the federal Voting Rights Act, for the reasons outlined in the findings and recommendations set forth in the Flint Water Crisis Report: Systemic Racism Through the Lens of Flint.”
Full Article: Michigan Civil Rights Commission urges U.S. Supreme Court to review emergency manager law | Michigan Radio.