Leid Stories - 10/01/14

In the Matters of Ferguson, MO: The Unseen Legal Battles Over Rights

Detroit: Yet Another Round of Court for Activists Wanting Their City Back

Two months since Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in protest over the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by Police Officer Darren Wilson, and the small predominantly African American city remains taut and on edge as it tries to reassemble itself with a template of its own making. Meanwhile, the old one still is in effect, and it continues to wreak havoc.

Tony Rothert, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, discusses cases his office has litigated that provide a snapshot of the root of long-simmering tensions in Ferguson and in other communities of color across the state.

Without even a functioning court in their forced-into-bankruptcy city to hear their case, a group of activists must travel an hour out of town to Ingham County Circuit Court to legally challenge the state’s takeover and decimation of Detroit’s public-school system.

Elena Herrada, a member of the Detroit School Board and an activist with Detroiters Resisting Emergency Management, gives an update on their third battle with the state.