VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

Al Phillips, President of AFSCME Local 457, at right, talks to reporter during Health Department locals 457 and 273’s participation in national march against the first war on Iraq in 1991.

BATTLE TO MAINTAIN PUBLIC HEALTH CARE TOOK THE LIVES OF MANY UNION OFFICIALS FROM DETROIT GENERAL HOSPITAL, HEALTH DEPT.

By Diane Bukowski

May 19, 2012

DETROIT  — Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion Director Loretta V. Davis told VOD to email her so she could send documents allegedly proving the state established Detroit’s health department in 1978, as she contended at the City Council hearing May 16.. She said they were part of  the Michigan Public Health Code, but could not cite a section. To date she has not responded to VOD’s email, sent the same day as the hearing.

Detroit Receiving Hospital, later renamed Detroit General Hospital, circa 1933; in 1949 Detroiters voted to put it under the control of the Detroit Health Department.

In fact, Detroit’s Health Department has had a long and prominent history as an independent city-operated entity since 1825. The Common Council, as it was then known, appointed three doctors to look after the health of the city’s poor residents in 1827, according to an article in the July, 1955 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

The article’s authors, Joseph G. Molner, M.D., MPH, and Vlado A. Getting, M.D., Dr. PH, mention no state government role in their article at all.  According to the 1918 City Charter, Detroit’s Mayor appointed the four member Board of Health, which operated the Health Department. (Click on Detroit Health Department history for full article.)

The authors detail the founding of Detroit Receiving Hospital in 1913, and its subsequent transfer to the Detroit Health Department in 1949.

“In 1913 the city determined it would furnish more hospital space for its sick poor and under the Board of Poor Commissioners constructed the first unit of the Detroit Receiving Hospital. The City Physician’s Office became attached to the Receiving Hospital. In 1948 the Welfare Department, which operated the Receiving Hospital, was severely criticized and as a result of the vote of the citizens the 538-bed Receiving Hospital, its branch, the Redford Receiving Hospital, containing a 48-bed emergency unit, and the City Physician’s Office were transferred to the Health Department. Since 1949, therefore, all city operated medical hospital facilities in Detroit have been administered by the Health Department.”

Entrance to Maybury Sanitorium; many have questioned its role in randomly interning poor Blacks in Detroit as suspected TB carriers.

Redford Receiving Hospital. Photo Sept. 1929

By 1953, the article’s authors say, the  Department operated Receiving Hospital, Herman Keifer Hospital, Maybury Sanitorium (for tuberculosis patients), a Redford Emergency Branch, the City Physician’s Service which provided 36,007 home visits that year, five district health centers which provided well-child care among other services, school dental clinics, and the Central Office X-Ray Clinic. (See photos at left.)

Health and Hospitals were divided into two departments under the City Charter of 1974, the year Detroit’s first Black Mayor, Coleman A. Young, took office. Detroit Receiving Hospital was by then known as Detroit General Hospital. Eventually, many Black doctors, nurses and other workers were employed at DGH, the Health Department, and other city departments.

This reporter began 20 years of work at the Detroit Health  Department in 1974.

She was first at Gratiot Health Center (now demolished), next at Bruce Douglas Health Center, (then at 6500 McGraw, now privatized under the Detroit Community Health Connection) and then at Herman Kiefer Health Complex in the community nursing division (which employed Vernice Davis Anthony and Jean Chabut) and the TB clinic (both divisions now defunct).

She was an elected official of AFSCME Local 457 for most of that time.

This reporter now takes up the history of the Health Department subsequent to 1974 from her own knowledge. At that time, Local 457 represented workers at bot

Detroit’s first Black Mayor, Coleman A. Young after election in 1973.

h the Health Department on Taylor and Detroit General Hospital on St. Antoine in downtown Detroit. The Local had over 1200 members.

In 1976, a drive to turn Detroit General Hospital over to the private, then non-profit Detroit Medical Center began. Detroit was the first major city to be hit with such a proposal. Many other large cities including New York and Chicago still have their public hospitals and health departments, despite cutbacks.

From 1977-1980, Local 457 President Hazel Edwards led a city-wide campaign to “Save Detroit General Hospital,” which included a coalition with UAW Local 3, representing Dodge Main plant workers. The corporate drive to shut Detroit’s auto plants in the wake of militant organizing by their Black workers had also begun.

Hazel Edwards, President AFSCME Local 457

Dodge Main workers joined DGH workers to save their city

Organizers warned that if Detroit General Hospital was privatized, and Dodge Main shut down, a wave of privatization and plant closings would end up destroying Detroit, since jobs for public employees and auto workers were the mainstay of the economy. They also presented the first real opportunity for Black Detroiters to have unionized jobs with decent wages and benefits.

Everything that was then predicted has since come to pass.

As part of the campaign, The Concerned Citizens for Detroit General Hospital, also headed by President Edwards, undertook a massive petition drive to have the people of Detroit vote on whether their only remaining public hospital should be privatized. Tens of thousands of signatures were gathered and turned in to then City Clerk James Bradley, enough to put the question on the ballot.

The late Erma Henderson, Pres. Detroit City Council

However, a court later ruled that “budgetary matters” could not be put on the ballot. A footnote to that effect continues in the current City Charter.

Detroit’s City Council had the final say-so on the privatization of DGH. After a night-long sit-in in City Council chambers, during which DGH workers and others were arrested, the Council voted for the move. Only then Council President Erma Henderson and Council Member Ken Cockrel, SENIOR voted NO.

When the DMC took DGH over, it busted the union. It was four years before AFSCME Council 25 was able to organize workers there again, at lower wages and benefits. President Edwards, a beautiful and brilliant union leader and negotiator, suffered a stroke in 1981 and was severely disabled from then until her death in a nursing home in 1993.

Her successor at Local 457, Dorothy Worthy, died of cancer as she neglected her doctor’s appointments while the Local continued to fight ongoing privatization at the Health Department itself. Private agencies including the Southeast Michigan Health Association (SEMHA), and substance abuse programs set up shop in the city-owned Herman Kiefer Health Complex, city jobs were contracted to private workers with no pensions attached,  and the Department became a shell of its former self.

Worthy was succeeded by Anita Hicks, who led a campaign to organize Community Nutrition Workers, whose privately contracted jobs were previously those of Community Health Assistants. Acting Director George Gaines fired all the CNW’s, but their jobs were later won back after militant protests outside Herman Kiefer.

Local 457 union officials Helen Webb, Alvin Jones, Diane Bukowski and Laurie Walker in 1993; even then the Local was raising the demand to make the banks and corporations pay; Photo by Local 457 President Al Phillips

Local 457 President Al Phillips succeeded Hicks, taking on an uphill battle to stop the erosion of city workers’ jobs and rights. He was a co-founder of the Detroit Coalition to Stop Privatization and Save Our city in 1992, which united all 17 city locals and the community in a battle for Detroit. During its candidate hearings, the Coalition got promises from nearly all the mayoral and council candidates that they would not privatize city services and jobs.

Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer with wife Judge Trudy Duncombe Archer, anticipating a future of privatization.

AFSCME Council 25 endorsed Mayor Dennis Archer based in part on those promises. But after months spent following up on Archer’s promises in the Health Department, meeting with City Council, Labor Relations, the Health Department Director, and others to demand the return of city jobs and services there, President Phillips died of a massive heart attack on April 16, 1994.

It later turned out that Archer, who spoke at Phillips’ funeral, was already in the process of transferring control of the Department’s health clinics to private agencies, among other actions.

As the proposal for the Institute for Population Health shows, the problem with health services in Detroit is not control by the city of Detroit, which now spends little on those services.

Since the privatization of Detroit General Hospital, now called Detroit Receiving under the for-profit DMC owned by Vanguard and a Wall Street hedge fund, the problem has always been the insatiable greed of the private corporations, insurance companies, and banks to maximize their profits on the back of the poor. Public health and hospitals, which are a human right, should be owned and run by the people and their elected representatives, not for profit.

New York City still maintains its public hospitals and centers, even after cutbacks

DHWP Director Loretta Davis (center) speaks at Council May 16, 2012 as Deputy Director Betsy Pash (left) listens; the two have incorporated the “Institute for Population Health”

 Council, unions object to plan engineered by Engler, Snyder appointees

By Diane Bukowski

May 19, 2012

DETROIT – The fall-out from the Detroit consent agreement with the state continued May 17 as Loretta V. Davis, Director of the Department of Health and Wellness Promotion (DHWP), told City Council she wants to strip DHWP of its entire $54.3 million in federal and state grant funding and $10.2 million in fee revenues, lay off 400 workers, and bust the union. 

Herman Kiefer Health Complex on Taylor at Lodge Freeway

Davis’ plan gives all grant funds and revenues to a private “Institute for Population Health” (IPH).  The department only gets $5 million a year from the city’s general fund, which Mayor Dave Bing zeroed out in his budget plan. The plan also says that the current DHWP headquarters at Herman Kiefer Health Complex on Taylor is “no longer sustainable,” although the city recently spent millions to renovate it. 

Such institutes have not developed a way to determine whether they positively influence public health in 50 years of existence, according to an article published by the Michigan Public Health Institute. Davis said the state has already approved the plan, but Council members contended that their approval is necessary for the plan to take effect. 

(Click on DWHP IHP for seven page document Davis presented to Council outlining her plans.)

“NOTHING BUT UNION-BUSTING” 

AFSCME Local 457 President Laurie Walker

“We provide services to 300,000 clients annually,” Laurie Walker, President of AFSCME Health Department Local 457 told the Council. “We enjoy our positions and care about the people. We live in the city, own homes here, and pay taxes. Last year, two city workers on my block were laid off and now their homes are vacant. I will have to consider moving as well even though I love this city. I believe the Institute is nothing but union-busting.” 

The Department currently provides Maternal and Infant Health Programs, in a city where the 2009 infant mortality rate was 14.8 per 1,000, more than double the national average of 6.3 per 1,000. It provides WIC (a federal food program for women, infants and children), immunizations, lead screening, vision and hearing testing, family planning, and substance abuse treatment among other services. Its vital records division and adult and pediatric dental clinics are self-sustaining through fees. 

Herman Kiefer Family Health Center has cut adult medicine services already.

DHWP has already shut down its adult medical services at the Herman Kiefer Health Clinic and Grace Ross Health Center, Walker told VOD earlier. She told the Council that Davis met with DWHP workers May 16 to inform them they would be laid-off, and that they could apply for 250 non-union jobs at the new Institute 

Scicilla Hunt, President of AFSCME Local 273, representing nurses, Greg Murray, President of the Society of Accountants, Analysts and Appraisers (SAAA), and DeAngelo Malcolm, AFSCME Council 25 staff representative, also blasted the plan at the hearing. 

DAVIS PREVIOUSLY WORKED AT WAYNE COUNTY HEALTH DEPT. 

Davis began work as the city’s DHWP director Sept. 2011. She was Health Officer for the Wayne County Department of Health beginning in 2007, a fact that has been kept under wraps in daily media reports. Wayne County government under Robert Ficano has been wracked with scandals and is under investigation by the FBI. 

Child serviced by Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion/Photo from website

Davis  and Deputy Director Betsy Pash, who was previously Administrative Deputy Director for the Michigan Department of Community Health under Governor Rick Snyder, incorporated the “Institute for Population Health” as a non-profit with the state May 2,  according to state records.The IRS has not yet approved it for non-profit status. 

Davis said the IPH already has officers, a board of directors, a budget, and a “draft plan” approved by the state. Despite its new-born status, Davis claimed the Institute would be functioning by Oct. 1 after lay-offs on June 28 and September 28. 

“The Institute for Population Health would contract directly with the state of Michigan,” Davis said. “Protection of the public’s health is the state’s responsibility, which it has decided to delegate to local health departments, in 1978 to the Detroit health department. The Institute will sustain itself through grant funding and collection of revenues and fees. A draft plan has been approved by the State of Michigan, a diverse board has been created, by-laws have been approved, and a budget has been developed. We are working with [attorney] Floyd Allen who is acting pro bono.” 

She added that the Animal Control Center (ACC) currently run by DWHP would be transferred to the Police Department. Fiscal Analysis Director Irving Corley, however, said no funds to run the ACC have been included in that department’s budget. Councilman Brown, a former police officer, said the division was transferred out of the Police Department years ago because many police tend only to shoot dogs. 

COUNCIL MEMBERS SAY THEY WERE NOT CONSULTED, MUST APPROVE PLAN 

Councilwoman JoAnn Watson questions Davis' authority to establish IPH at May 16, 2012 hearing

“The Council has not even acted on the budget yet,” Councilwoman JoAnn Watson objected after Walker spoke, “The Department staff is not in charge. The Council has not voted to contract with this Institute.” 

She noted that the proposal violates the Successor Clause of union contracts, which provide that employees in Departments that are shutting down be transferred to any successor entity. She asked why the IPH incorporators had not approached the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority, already in existence, instead if they wanted an alternate organization. 

“The Mayor proposes, the Council disposes,” commented Councilman Kwame Kenyatta. 

Even Council members Gary Brown, Saunteel Jenkins, and Kenneth Cockrel, Jr. who voted for the consent agreement, challenged Davis’ authority to found the institute and transfer funding and services without Council consent. 

David Whitaker, Director of the Council’s Research and Analysis Division, confirmed that the plan cannot be carried forward without Council approval. The Council eventually voted to move the matter to Executive Session. 

THE PLAYERS 

Along with Davis, originally from the Wayne County Health Department, and Pash, from the Michigan Department of Community Health, players behind the scenes have questionable ties. 

DMC General Counsel Floyd Allen (right) with officials including Vanguard's Trip Pilgrim and DMC CEO Mike Duggan at center, during meeting prior to Vanguard takeover of DMC

Floyd Allen and his law firm acted as the agent for the IPH in its incorporation papers. , Allen is also General Counsel for the Detroit Medical Center, whose services are provided through the for-profit Vanguard Health Systems, based in Tennessee and 70 percent owned by the Blackstone Group, one of the world’s largest private equity (hedge fund) firms. 

Jean Chabut, currently Deputy Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health under Governor Rick Snyder and Director Maura Corrigan, as well as CEO of the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI), also supports the plan.  Chabut and Vernice Anthony Davis, quoted in Detroit Free Press articles lauding the plan, both previously worked at the Detroit Health Department in executive positions. 

2011-2012 MPHI Board of Directors (l to r backs row) Jeffrey R. Taylor, Jennifer Jordan, Michael R. Rip, James Giordano, Dean Smith, Melanie Brim; (l to r front row) Dawn Misra, Allen Goodman, Jean Chabut, Dele Davies; not pictured Not Pictured: Daniel Hale, Adnan Hammad, Mary Kushion, Sarah Mayberry, Phyllis Meadows, Bradley Patterson.

Chabut’s participation is noteworthy because of her role with the MPHI. 

According to “Public Health Institutes: The Michigan Experience,” by Kevin Piggot, MD, MPH, there are currently 32 Public Health Institutes in the National Network of Public Health Institutes. He said they function as “intermediaries, honest brokers, and shuttle diplomats,” but does not note that they provide direct service to the public.  They receive funding from private foundations, federal and state grants, and health insurance companies. 

He notes, however, that “Ultimately the success of the PHI’s may be reasonably expected to translate into improved population health. The evidence for such, however is lacking as was pointed out by the MPHI in 1999, ‘there has been no effort to quantify the impact of public health institutes on the public’s health within their states.” 

No such methodology has been developed to date, he says.  (Click on MPHI doc to read entire article.)

MPHI’s 2010 tax filing with the IRS indicates that it raked in $37.5 million from “program service revenue,” with a paltry $46,709 from “contributions and grants.”

However, it states that its reason for non-profit status is that it “normally receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or from the general public.” According to a separate attachment, most of its revenue appears to have come from providing “technical assistance” to various agencies.  (Click on MPHI Form 990 2010 to read entire filing.)

Vernice Davis Anthony ironically stands at Workers' Memorial in Hart Plaza in Free Press photo with puff piece written by Freep reporter Pat Anstett.

IPH consultant Vernice Davis-Anthony was Director of the Michigan Department of Public Health under Governor John Engler. She retired as CEO of the corporate-affiliated Greater Detroit Area Health Council in Dec. 2011 and also serves on the Wayne County Airport Authority. 

 “Initial funding for the MPHI [founded in 1988] was secured by Vernice Anthony Davis, [then] Board President and State Director of MDPH, from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation,”says Piggott.  Detroit Free Press medical writer Pat Anstett extensively quoted Anthony Davis in her first article on the IPH (click on Detroit proposal calls for transforming health department into an institute ). Anstett said she had already obtained the document given to Council May 17, likely from Anthony Davis. Anstett wrote a puff piece on her when she was president of the Greater Detroit Health Action Council (click on Vernice Davis Anthony Eleanor Josaitis Unsung Hero Award Anstett article,  ). 

Anstett made no attempt to contact Health Department union representatives or workers in her initial articles on the IPH for the other side of the story. Although Free Press writers Matt Helms and Suzette Hackney attended the Council session on the Health Department, the Free Press has not yet published any article by them.

See VOD story on true Health Department history below.

People v. Moreno will have widespread effect, likely impact Godboldo case

 By Diane Bukowski 

May 18, 2012 

Attorney Craig Haehnel

DETROIT – In a landmark 5-2 decision April 20, the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the “common-law” right to resist unlawful arrests, warrantless home invasions, and other unlawful conduct by the police. 

“This ruling is extremely precedent-setting,” Craig Haehnel, attorney for Angel Moreno, Jr., said. “I think it puts curbs on the police. The Court of Appeals had ruled that you essentially have no right to self-defense against police officers. You just can’t have a free society where you cannot resist illegal conduct by the police. It takes you to nothing but a police state.” 

Mr. Moreno, Jr. of Holland, Michigan, now 22, was charged in Dec. 2008 with violating a widely used state statute for physically resisting an attempt by two Holland police officers, Troy DeWys and Matthew Hamberg, to shove their way into his home.The officers claimed they wanted to “secure the premises” while they got a warrant. 

Angel Moreno, Jr.

Both the trial and appeals courts held that the officers’ entry was illegal but still upheld the charges against Mr. Moreno, Jr. 

The statute involved, MCL 750.81d, says in part, “. . . .an individual who assaults, batters, wounds, resists, obstructs, opposes or endangers a person who the individual knows or has reason to know is performing his or her duties”  is guilty of a two-year felony. It adds additional prison time if the person in question is injured. 

“While the Legislature has the authority to modify the common law, it must do so by speaking in ‘no uncertain terms,’” Justice Diane Hathaway, writing for the majority, said. “Neither the language of MCL 750.81d nor the legislative history of this statute indicates with certainty that the Legislature intended to abrogate the common-law right to resist unlawful arrests or other invasions of private rights. We cannot presume that the Legislature intended to abrogate this right. 

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway

“Therefore, we overrule People v Ventura, 262 Mich App 370; 686 NW2d 748 (2004), to the extent that it held that the Legislature affirmatively chose to modify the traditional common-law rule that a person may resist an unlawful arrest. Because the Court of Appeals in this case relied on Ventura and extended its holding to the context of illegal entries of the home, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand this matter to the trial court. On remand, we instruct the trial court to grant defendant’s motion to quash the charges on the basis of its ruling that the officers’ conduct was unlawful.” (Click on People v Moreno MSC opinion to read entire ruling.)

Mr. Haehnel said, “I’ve been outraged ever since the Ventura decision came down. Under its logic, Rodney King and Malice Green could have been charged with resisting and obstructing for defending themselves.” 

Malice Green, beaten to death in 1992 by cops Nevers and Budzyn

In the 1991 King case, Los Angeles police were captured on videotape severely beating Mr. King. An all-white jury’s acquittal of the officers ignited a national storm of protest. Detroit police officers Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn beat laid-off steelworker Malice Green to death in 1992. An all-Black jury convicted them of second-degree murder, a verdict that was overturned on appeal. Michigan legislators then abolished Detroit’s Recorder’s Court, whose judges and juries were required to be residents of majority-Black Detroit. 

Mr. Haehnel said the People v. Moreno decision, along with the overturn of Ventura, is retroactive and will affect many cases across Michigan. 

“I have two cases pending now that Moreno relates to,” he noted. “In one, the videotape of the whole thing going down shows quite clearly the police didn’t have reason to arrest my client. They told him to get out of his home. He had been the victim of an assault, but they arrested him instead.” 

Attorney Racine Miller

Mr. Haehnel and Attorney Racine Miller, who researched the case for an amicus brief filed by the 2,000 member Michigan Association for Justice, agreed that a key point in oral arguments was a question Justice Michael F. Cavanagh put to Ottawa County Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Babbitt. 

Justice Cavanagh asked whether a woman could be charged under Ventura for resisting a male officer who searched her by putting his hands down her underwear. Mr. Babbitt said technically she could be. 

Justice Marilyn Kelly said that the woman’s only recourse under the Ventura interpretation of the statute would be to sue the officer, and noted that the average citizen cannot always afford to sue.

Cops Michael Parish and Michael Osman

(VOD: In fact, Detroit police officers Michael Parish and Michael Osman   already carried out rapes of Black males on the streets of Detroit in 2006 by pulling their pants down and penetrating them under the guise of drug searches, according to numerous complainants and witnesses. The two are still on the force. Byron Ogletree was acquitted of numerous charges brought after he resisted a similar attack by the pair that year.)

 Justice Robert Young told Mr. Babbitt, “You don’t win unless you can persuade us that the statute he was charged with abrogates the common law rule.” Young nevertheless voted to dissent from the majority decision, along with Justice Robert Markman. 

Justice Stephen Markman

In their dissenting opinion, Justice Markman wrote, “. . . the Legislature clearly excluded consideration of the lawfulness of the police officer’s conduct as a relevant element in forcibly resisting an officer as long as the police officer was ‘performing his or her duties,’ and it did so ‘in no uncertain terms.’” 

They also said the right to resist unlawful conduct by the police is “outmoded in today’s modern society.” 

Neither Attorney Babbitt nor anyone from the Ottawa County Prosecutor’s office was available for comment on Moreno. 

Maryanne Godboldo speaks at church rally after her release

Ms. Miller said she believes the Moreno decision will impact ongoing criminal proceedings in another prominent case, that of Maryanne Godboldo. In March, 20l1, Godboldo stood off an army of police equipped with helicopters, tanks and assault weapons to prevent them from entering her home to take her 13-year-old daughter.. The police said they had a “court order” initiated by the state’s Child Protective Services authorizing them to take the child. 

When Godboldo emerged at the end of the stand-off, they charged her under MCL750.81d as well as other statutes including gun charges, claiming she fired a gun inside the house during the stand-off. 

Both 36^th District Court Judge Ronald Giles and Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Gregory Bill dismissed all charges against Ms. Godboldo after her attorneys demonstrated that the court order was illegal. It had been rubber-stamped with Family Court Chief Judge Leslie Kim Smith’s signature by a probation officer unauthorized to remove children from their home, without any judicial review. 

A major issue in the case was that CPS worker Mia Wenk, not licensed in any medical profession, had decided the child should be put back on a dangerous psychotropic drug, Risperdal. Ms. Godboldo had earlier authorized administration of the drug only with the written provision that she could take her off it at any time. 

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy

Judges Giles and Bill also concluded that the prosecution did not provide sufficient evidence on the gun charges. 

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has sought leave to appeal, over one month late. 

“The Supreme Court ruling in Moreno shot the appeal out of the water,” Attorney Miller said. “Ms. Godboldo had a right to resist the police entry into her home. The only way the prosecutor can continue is to come up with new charges not involving that statute or Ventura.” 

Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Young

The daily media in Michigan has given scant coverage to the Moreno decision, choosing instead to focus on Chief Justice Young’s subsequent attack on Justice Hathaway, the author of the decision. He has alleged she entered into improper real estate deals involving short sales. 

Attorney Miller said she believes Young’s attack on Hathaway is nothing but retaliation for the Moreno decision. 

Houston protest May 17, 2012 over all-white jury acquittal of cop in teen beating/AP Photo

 By msnbc.com staff and news services 

May 17, 2012

Chad Holley (second from right) stands beside his mother, Joyce Holley (right) as Minister Quanell X (left) describes the events surrounding the alleged beating of Chad Holley after an encounter with eight Houston police officers in March, during a press conference Tuesday, May 4, 2010, in Houston with members of the NAACP, S.H.A.P.E. Community Center, the Nation of Islam, Ministers Against Crime, the National Black United Front and other community leaders, to release graphic images of injuries sustained by Holley.

HOUSTON — The day after an all-white jury acquitted a former Houston police officer for his role in the beating of a 15-year-old African American burglary suspect, community activists rallied a crowd of at least 200 people on the courthouse steps to protest.

Andrew Blomberg was acquitted by a jury in Houston on Wednesday in the alleged beating and stomping of Chad Holley two years ago.

The verdict was criticized by the Houston Police Department on Thursday.

“I understand the jury’s verdict, I just have to respectfully disagree,” Police Chief Charles McClelland said, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Ex-Houston cop Andrew Blomberg during trial

Protesters carrying signs with slogans like, “No justice, no peace. Stop the racist police,” and “Justice for Trayvon Martin” circled in front of the Harris County Courthouse and a phalanx of media cameras.

Some of them chanted that Houston Mayor Annise Parker and Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos have to go — even though both officials issued statements saying they disagreed with the verdict.

Blomberg, 29, was one of four officers fired for their role in the beating of Holley in March 2010 when police apprehended him while he was apparently fleeing a burglary.

His acquittal came amid heightened tension after the fatal shooting of black Florida teen Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman earlier this year.

Holley’s beating was videotaped by a security camera at a nearby business showing at least seven officers involved, kicking and stomping him as he lay face down on the ground.

All seven were fired, but four, including Blomberg, were charged with official oppression.

The remaining three defendants will learn of their court dates on Monday. Holley, who was convicted of burglary and sentenced to probation, has filed civil suits against the officers involved.

After the acquittal, Lykos said she respectfully disagreed with the verdict and said prosecutors were “prepared to go to trial on the three remaining cases.”

Former Houston police officer Andrew Blomberg was accused of participating in the videotaped beating of a 15-year-old burglary suspect. He was acquitted.

Blomberg told media after the verdict was rendered the incident had nothing to do with race, and that Holley was simply a “fleeing burglary suspect.”

But community activists disagreed, and spoke out angrily against police brutality at the courthouse rally on Thursday.

“The cops standing on the street corner, the ones who cower in the lobby of the courthouse — those no good bastards are never going to change unless you make them change,” said activist Quanell X.

Quanell X told the crowd that two black jurors out of a pool of 75 were stricken, and encouraged the black community to respond to jury summons in the future.

“All-white juries can never happen again,” he said.

Other activists present at the rally asked people to sign a petition for an independent civilian review board to examine cases of police oppression and brutality.

Speaking to the Houston Chronicle on Thursday, Lykos pointed out that jury pools are created randomly from prospective jurors who say they can be impartial. She also highlighted that Blomberg’s defense team struck the two black jurors from the jury pool.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Below is video of police beating of Chad Holley. 

By Michigan Forward

May 16, 2012

Dear Supporters of Democracy in Michigan,

It has come to our attention that right-wing elements in state government are hard at work to make sure the petition to repeal the emergency manager dictator law never makes it to the ballot this November.

Board of Canvvassers; four members are at front, during contentious hearing April 26./ Photo Leonna McElvone

As you may know, the State Board of Canvassers split 2-2 along party lines and were unable to reach agreement that the petition met the 14 point font size for the headline. What you do not know is that the staff for the Michigan Secretary of State knew in advance that the font size was in fact correct before the hearing began.

They knew this because they asked for an independent analysis of the font size from a respected professor at Michigan State University. This professor analyzed the petition, confirmed that the font size was correct, transmitted his findings to the state at their request and promptly had his findings ignored in the final report to the board. In other words, the fix was in to make sure the dubious argument that the font size was incorrect would go forward in spite of proof that the state had to the contrary.

This omission creates a bold-face lie. The republican representatives on the board said the font size was incorrect despite their own staff knowing that it was in fact correct. The result makes the board of canvassers hearing nothing more than a scam concocted to paint the picture that something was wrong with the petitions when in fact, nothing was wrong.

Edith Payne, who marched with Dr. King and is one of the litigants in lawsuit against PA 4, testified before the Board of Canvassers April 26, 2012.

Tomorrow, Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 10 a.m. the Michigan Court of Appeals will hear arguments from attorneys representing the people of Michigan in Stand Up for Democracy. The judges on the panel were given  a sworn statement from Mr. Chris Corneal, Associate Professor of Graphic Design in the Department of Art, Art History and Design at Michigan State University. Mr. Corneal, apparently distressed that the state knew the font size was correct but continued to act as if it was not correct, typed his statement; found a notary public and swore that he was telling the truth about several important facts:

1. He was asked to review the font size of the petition headline that is in dispute.

2. He determined that the font size is correct.

3. He told elections officials the font size is correct before the hearing.

None of Professor Corneal’s findings saw the light of day at the board of canvasser’s meeting. Now his findings will not see their way into the court hearing either because the judges have ruled that neither the professor, his findings nor his testimony will be allowed before the court. Why? Because they were never presented at the board of canvassers’ hearing. And why is that? Because somebody at the Secretary of State’s office made sure that Professor Corneal’s review of the petition would not be included in the final report to the board of canvassers because it is in direct opposition to the right-wing challenge on the font size.The fix is in but we don’t have to let them get away with it.

Join other supporters of democracy today at 4 pm for a press conference at 600 W. Lafayette in downtown Detroit. Let them know they won’t get away with the lie any longer.

Then join Stand Up for Democracy for a prayer rally at 9 am outside the Michigan Court of Appeals in front of the old GM building at W. Grand Blvd. and Second where we will pack the courtroom for the 10 a.m. hearing. Stand together for justice and stand up for democracy.

Sincerely,

Stand Up for Democracy 

Michigan Forward | May 16, 2012 at 6:20 pm | Tags: emergency management, public act 4, repeal public act 4, stand up for democracy | Categories: Repeal Public Act 4 | URL: http://wp.me/p26azi-AE

Three thousand marched on Gov. Rick Snyder's house on MLK Day Jan. 26, 2012 to demand the end of PA 4

AFSCME Local 207 led protest against attacks on city workers, residents in April.

On May 4^th, AFSCME Local 207’s bargaining team met with management in our first formal contract negotiations. We meet again on the 18^th.  Management is demanding a second-class Jim Crow contract. It is clear that management thinks they can just take away the rights and benefits we worked years to win. If they don’t think we’ll strike, they won’t bargain. The members will have to prove them wrong.

UNION’S DEMANDS: Local 207 proposed contract language including pay raises of $2.00/hour in the first year, $1.50/hour in the second year, and a $1.00/hour raise in the third year. We proposed restitution of longevity, and leaving healthcare insurance and retirement as is.

Many AFSCME workers are single mothers with children; clerical workers make less than the poverty rate.

WAGES: They offered us no pay raise. In recognition of our union’s strength, management is not seeking direct wage cuts (though inflation has been cutting our wages for years). Instead, they to deduct more from our checks for new inferior health insurance and pension plans. Management wants to reduce our spendable income by about 10-15! That’s the same as a pay cut!

DURATION OF CONTRACT: They want a one-year contract. This so that the Director Sue McCormick and EMA consultants that she hired for over $300/hour can take a year to redo our job classifications and work rules, combine job duties, speed up the pace of work and reduce the numbers of DWSD workers, then have another go at us in 2013

PENSIONS: Those hired after July 1, 2012 would have a Defined Contribution pension plan, as opposed to our current Defined Benefit plan. If you were hired before July 1, 2012, they want you to pay 5% of your base pay rate to stay in our current DB plan. In management’s proposal, the only way to avoid the 5% pay check deduction would be to trade your DB pension for an inferior DC plan. The DC plan would reduce our pension to an annuity-type account, subject to the ups and downs of the financial markets and limited to what we could afford to contribute towards it. It would mean about a third less to live on once you retire, and if you live long enough, or have to spend more than you expected, you would be left penniless in your old age. Our DB plan is much more secure, based on years of service, final wages and a multiplication factor which is part of our current contract. It’s paid out for as you or your beneficiary lives. Our annuity plan is just a supplement to our pensions. Management’s proposal would essentially convert our whole pension plan to an annuity or retirement saving account, and devastate our basic pensions.

Many are demanding moratorium on Detroit's $12 billion debt to the banks.

HEALTHCARE: As we’ve said earlier, management wants to increase our total costs for health insurance by around 90% over the course of your employment. This is unacceptable.

UNION BUSTING: They want to strip our contract of anything that is out of sync with Federal Judge Cox’s 2011 order, including union officers with time off to do union work, seniority in promotions, beneficial past practices, and protections from privatization and subcontracting. They want to deny you the right to talk to your steward unless you’re being disciplined. They want discipline (including for attendance) to stay on your record for 36 months rather than the current 14 months, setting you up for further discipline and stopping you from being promoted. Management proposed a one-year probation period for new hires during which time they could be fired for anything without union representation. They even want Local 207 and Council 25 to drop our legal appeals of the Cox’s blatant union busting order!

We cannot let them take away our standard of living, especially since DWSD is not broke and our pension funds are secure. We will have to strike or let them loot our futures. Federal Judge Cox’s order for separate DWSD bargaining is an attempt to isolate Local 207 from the rest of the city workers. His attack on Local 207’s leadership and our union rights shows that our union is the only power that puts fear in the hearts of Cox, Snyder and Bing, and behind them, the rich white corporations who are attempting to “restructure” Detroit by smashing all vestiges of black power and workers power in a city that won’t quit fighting. The recent school walkouts show that Detroit has the will to fight.

The Water Department is where we make our stand. This is our opportunity to lead our majority-black, proud working-class city to victory against the corporations and their lackey politicians. If Local 207 members take up this challenge and fight not only for our union contract, but for the future of the Water Department and the city of Detroit, we can stop the vicious attacks against us, throw out the New Jim Crow plan our enemies have for us, and mount a fight that will change history.

Referring to unions, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that power means forcing someone to do what he doesn’t want to do. Management doesn’t want to treat us or Detroit with any respect. We must recognize our power and use it now to force them to do what they don’t want to do.

JONES FAMILY DEMANDED JUSTICE APRIL 23, 2012 OUTSIDE FRANK MURPHY HALL.

By Diane Bukowski

May 15, 2012 

DETROIT  — Attorneys for Aiyana Stanley-Jones’ father Charles Jones and Chauncey Owens called Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Richard Skutt’s exclusion of a hearsay statement by “jail-house snitch” Jay Schlenkerman in Jones’ case a victory May 11.  

Jay Schlenkerman testifying at preliminary exam for Charles Jones

“It’s a huge victory,” said Jones’ attorney Leon Weiss of the law firm of  Fieger, Fieger, Kenney, Giroux & Danzig. “Based on what they have now, I don’t think they have enough to convict him of anything.” 

Both Weiss and Owens’ attorney David Cripps called Skutt’s ruling “courageous,” one that many other judges would not have made due to pressure from the daily media. 

Judge Skutt ruled that 36^th District Court Judge E. Lynise Bryant-Weekes had “abused her discretion” by allowing the statement to come in against Jones.  He denied Weiss’ motion to quash a charge of first-degree murder, brought by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy in October, 2011, which alleged that Jones gave a gun to Owens to kill Je’Rean Blake, 17, in May, 2010. 

Killer cop Joseph Weekley shot 7-year-old Aiyana Jones, allegedly as depicted in expert's drawing, on May 16, 2010.

Two days later after the Blake killing, a Detroit police “Special Response Team” stormed the Jones home and shot 7-year-old Aiyana to death on May 16, 2010, causing international outrage.  A grand jury composed of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny indicted Detroit cop and Grosse Pointe Park resident Joseph Weekley, who shot her, only on manslaughter charges, at the time Jones was charges. Weekley is free on bond. 

“We’re happy,” said Jones’ mother Mertilla Jones (seen in photo at top with ‘Free Charles Jones’ sign) after the hearing. “We just want Charles home to be with the rest of his family, including his six little boys.” Judge Skutt refused to release Jones on tether, but said he would be open to considering such a release in the future. 

The Jones family, along with the family of Davontae Sanford, who is contesting his conviction of four murders to which hitman Vincent Smothers confessed, held a well-covered protest outside the Frank Murphy Hall on April 23, calling for the freedom of both men. (Click on http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/04/28/free-davontae-and-charles-justice-for-aiyana-and-trayvon/. ) 

Charles Jones consults with attorney Leon Weiss during earlier hearing

Judge Skutt also ruled that two juries would hear evidence in a joint Owens-Jones trial, which was postponed until September 16, 2012.  The Jones jury will not hear Schlenkerman’s testimony that Owens allegedly told him the details of Blake’s killing, implicating Jones, which Skutt said could come in against Owens. 

Assistant Prosecutor David Moran claimed there was still enough evidence to hold Jones, citing the testimony of eyewitness Amber Holloway at the exam. Moran said she testified that she saw Owens and Jones exit their vehicle and approach Blake together. 

Chauncey Owens (with attorney David Cripps) earlier pled guilty to second-degree murder during hearing April 11, 2011; prosecutor reinstated charge of first-degree murder after he refused to testify against Charles Jones.

Afterwards, Weiss said Moran misrepresented her testimony. Holloway, who said she was in the car with Blake when they went to a liquor store on St. Jean and Mack, also testified that she did not recognize Jones until after she saw him on TV. She said Jones was in the vehicle, but never said she saw the shooting or saw Jones give a gun to Owens, or the pair approaching Blake. 

Owens’ attorney David Cripps said after the hearing that he plans to file a motion to exclude “the wholly unreliable testimony of the jailhouse snitch” against Owens as well. (Click on http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/05/23/owens-never-said-aiyana-jones%e2%80%99-dad-gave-him-gun-used-in-teen%e2%80%99s-killing/ for story based on review of Owens’ court file.)

Schlenkerman celebrating Christmas after he gave statement to prosecutors in November, 3011.

 “I think it’s pretty clear that Judge Skutt has some concern about this statement,” Cripps said. “I think it’s pretty clear that he suggested [Schlenkerman’s] prompting of Owens took his alleged statements out of the realm of spontaneity. Why would Schlenkerman have testified if he did not think his own case would go more favorably as a result?” 

Schlenkerman is a six-time felon who was serving six months, reduced from one year, for a vicious three-day assault on his ex-girl-friend in May, 2011. According to medical records, the assault caused a closed head injury and other severe trauma, including sexual abuse.  The Brownstown Township police originally sought felony charges including kidnapping against Schlenkerman, but the Wayne County Prosecutor reduced the charges to misdemeanor domestic violence. 

Later, Schlenkerman faced eight charges of violating a Personal Protection Order for contacting the victim while he was incarcerated in the Wayne County Dickerson jail. The prosecutor dropped five of those charges in October, 2011. Schlenkerman was released on probation in November. He promptly gave a written statement to prosecutors about Owens’ alleged statements to him. 

Wayne County Dickerson Jail

He said he met Owens at Dickerson in October and had repeated conversations with him during which, after questioning by Schlenkerman, Owens essentially “spilled his guts” and said Jones gave him the gun used to kill Blake. The two had never previously met. 

After oral arguments by Weiss, Cripps and Moran, Judge Skutt said he had thoroughly reviewed all the cases cited in their briefs. 

Moran argued that the Schlenkerman’s hearsay statement should be allowed under Michigan Rule of Evidence (MRE) 804B and a 2008 Michigan Supreme Court (MSC) decision in People v. Taylor, among others.  He said Taylor invalidated a 1993 MSC decision in People v. Poole, which held that both MRE 804B and the Confrontation Clause of the U.S. Constitution applied. 

Judge Richard Skutt (Facebook photo)

In Taylor, the Court ruled that the Confrontation Clause (the defendant’s right to confront a witness) did not apply in that situation, where co-defendants implicated each other in a murder case. 

But Skutt ruled that Taylor preserved another part of Poole, in response to Weiss’ argument that Taylor did not throw “everything [in Poole] out the window.” 

He said Taylor left in place requirements that to be admissible, a hearsay statement must be a narrative, made by the declarant without prompting or urging, and wholly against the declarant’s interest. 

Citing the transcript of the preliminary exam where Schlenkerman testified, Judge Skutt said Schlenkerman testified that Owens made his alleged statements to him from the beginning of October through Schlenkerman’s release on Nov. 16, 2011, “in bits and pieces” almost every day, and on questioning by Schlenkerman. 

“The only way I can read that exchange is that the statement was not a narrative uttered spontaneously without prompting or inquiry, with more than just the indication that the individual was curious about why [Owens] watched Fox2 News, but that he was also curious about why [Owens] was there,” Judge Skutt said. 

“So I deny the motion to quash [the charge] but rule that the [Schlenkerman] statement will not be admitted here.” 

Prosecutor Moran later asked Judge Skutt to admit Schlenkerman’s statement against Owens himself. Skutt agreed to do so, Cripps said he will still ask for the exclusion of the statement against his client in a pre-trial hearing.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s chief communications officer Maria Miller told the Detroit News that they plan to appeal Skutt’s ruling.

Marchers rally against city, schools debt to banks at CAYMC May 9, 2012

Hundreds demand moratorium on Detroit’s debt during BOA protest    Pastor calls for mass turn-out at PA4 appeals hearing May 17 10 A.M. 

By Diane Bukowski 

May 12, 2012 

Linda Willis' sign says "Cancel the debt!"

DETROIT – Several hundred marchers called for a moratorium on Detroit’s $16.9 billion debt to the banks,  and even cancellation, during a protest at the city’s Bank of America (BOA) headquarters May 9, which concluded with a march to the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center (CAYMC). 

The marchers called out “No consent to the one percent, not one cent, cancel the debt,” and “The banks call the shots while Detroit rots!” 

 Thousands more marched across the country to protest BOA’a annual shareholders meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, where this year’s Democratic Convention will take place. 

Maureen Taylor campaigns against devastation of Detroit Public Schools

The Detroit protest was precedent-setting, the first march held focusing primarily on the banks as the architects of Detroit’s ruin.  In addition to the city’s debt, marchers also called for a moratorium on the debt of the Detroit Public Schools, noting that 80 percent of the DPS state per-pupil aid is set aside to pay the banks, resulting in the closure of hundreds of public schools, tens of thousands of lay-offs, and massive New Orleans-style charterization. 

“This demonstration is the first that has told the truth about the Financial Advisory Board,” Jerry Goldberg of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition said during the rally. “The Financial Advisory Board is all about robbery by the banks. The city itself has been victimized by predatory lending. This year, it paid $597 million out of a budget of $1.2 billion on its debt. The consent agreement is a grab by the banks for our tax dollars, even if it means destroying every city service.” 

Detroit city workers face 2500 lay-offs

The Public Act 4 consent agreement passed by the Detroit City Council “Fatal Five” April 4 established all-powerful entities that will dictate to city officials. They include an unelected nine-member “Financial Advisory Board,” and a new Chief Financial Officer and Program Management Director approved by Governor Rick Snyder. 

State and city politicians, in collusion with the banks, are now rapidly dismantling Detroit. Shutdowns of the city’s health, human services, transportation, planning and development and other departments are in the works, along with the lay-offs of 2,500 city workers. 

“Jail the bankers, Dave Bing, Rick Snyder, and the City Council five,” Larry Hicks said. “Both the Democratic and Republican parties are working for the banks, not the people. We need third and fourth parties to organize the people to fight banksters like Bernie Madoff and others who stole billions. The local media does not tell the real news in this mediocracy. We need to boycott them and anything run by the banks.” 

Larry Hicks and Joe McGuire

Attorney Bob Day noted that the struggle against the banks is world-wide. 

“This battle is going on in Montreal, Greece, Spain, France and everywhere,” Day said. “People are saying to hell with the banks and their austerity programs. The banks set our communities up for disaster, and when it all fell down, they didn’t get hurt. They got bailed out by our tax dollars. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people are out of their homes, and the loss of tax revenues to our cities has brought in Public Act 4 and emergency managers, which guarantee that the banks will get paid first, This is nothing but a dictatorship of the banks. What we need is world revolution.” 

Rev. Charles E. Williams Sr. calls on marchers to pack COA hearing on PA4 referendum May 17

The Rev. Charles E. Williams Sr. called on the marchers to pack an emergency appeals court hearing on the April 26 state Board of Canvassers’ vote preventing a referendum against Public Act 4 from getting on the November ballot. The Act has disenfranchised over half of Michigan’s African-American population while dismantling their cities and school districts, in Benton Harbor, Flint, Pontiac, Highland Park, Inkster, and now Detroit among others. 

The hearing is Thursday, May 17 at 10 a.m. before a panel consisting of Appeals Court Judges Kurtis T. Wilder (presiding), Kirsten Frank Kelly, and Michael Riordan. It will take place in the Detroit office of the Court of Appeals at in the Cadillac Place Building (old GM building), on West Grand Blvd. at Second. 

 Stand Up for Democracy filed the case, with amicus curiae briefs filed by the Michigan ACLU, Michigan AFSCME, and others. 

Attorney Vanessa Fluker is flanked by UAW officials and members

“We must galvanize the public and energize ourselves,” Rev. Williams Sr. said. “We must meet the judges there and hold them hostage to do the right thing. Two hundred thousand signatures mean something. Be there; stand in the judges’ face!” 

Attorney Vanessa Fluker spoke on behalf of the tens of thousands of homeowners who have been victimized by foreclosures on predatory mortgages. 

“It doesn’t matter if you’re disabled, or a senior citizen,” Fluker said. “They will throw you right out on the street. You can send 10, 20, 30 requests for loan modification in and it doesn’t matter as long as they get you out of your house and get paid in full with our tax dollars for the mortgages.” 

Shealia Tyson said the march was “long overdue.” 

Disabled protester is facing eviction

“I came here in 2000 and worked at hard,” Tyson explained. “I recognized then that there was a massive foreclosure problem looming, but nobody would listen. People were being victimized by the mortgage companies. One young lady’s mortgage note ballooned to $1600.” 

Ms. Laurene Brown said, “Leaders in high places are committing crimes against the people of Detroit.”  Quoting 2 Chronicles 7:14, she said they will face retribution. 

The verse reads, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 

Others who spoke at the historic rally included Joe McGuire of Occupy Detroit, A.J. Freer, 2^nd Vice-President of United Auto Workers Local 600,  Wayne County Commissioner Martha Scott, who has sponsored a resolution for a moratorium on foreclosures, and Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson, a prime leader in the fight against Public Act 4 and the takeover of Detroit. 

Bob Day called for world revolution

Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 marchers converged from three different directions on the BOA shareholders meeting in Charlotte, under heavy police repression. Organizers called it the largest protest of its kind in the history of BOA shareholders meetings.

Dozens of shareholders inside, including New York City’s comptroller,  peppered BOA CEO Brian Moynihan with angry comments about BOA’s foreclosures and failure to modify home loans properly.  (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/5-protesters-arrested-trying-to-enter-bank-of-america-shareholders-meeting-in-north-carolina/2012/05/09/gIQANt52CU_story.html ). 

An analyst from Credit Agricole Securities ranked Moynihan, who makes $7.1 million a year in salary alone, as the nation’s worst big bank CEO. (http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/09/bank-of-america-moynihan-worst-ceo/)

Below if video of “Flash Mob” action at Detroit’s Bank of America May 8, 2012.

‘Monopoly’ Protest Temporarily Shuts BoA Branch in Detroit: MyFoxDETROIT.com

UNIONS BROUGHT 10,000 MEMBERS OUT TO STOP THE PASSAGE OF PUBLIC ACT 4 IN LANSING APRIL 13, 2011; NOW IS THE TIME FOR THEM TO EXERCISE THEIR ECONOMIC CLOUT WITH A GENERAL STRIKE

APPEALS COURT HEARING MAY 17, 2012, 10 A.M. CADILLAC PLACE (DETROIT STATE BUILDING AT SECOND AND W. GRAND BLVD) 

Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 4:29 PM

By Tim Martin | tmartin4@mlive.com MLive.com

A coalition that wants to repeal Michigan’s law giving more power to state-appointed emergency managers is headed to court to try and revive its stalled effort.

Stand Up for Democracy is scheduled to make oral arguments before the Michigan Court of Appeals on May 17. The union-supported coalition is fighting a recent action by the Board of State Canvassers that prevented its proposal from appearing on the November ballot because some of the lettering on its petitions was deemed smaller than required by state law.

Stand Up for Democracy says its print was the proper size. But canvassers deadlocked on the proposal.

The coalition says it collected more than 225,000 signatures, which would be more than enough to make the ballot.

Stand Up for Democracy supporters say the election board’s vote was politically motivated, with Republicans opposing their effort to repeal the law.

“It was just crazy,” said Greg Bowens, a Stand Up for Democracy spokesman. “There’s really no other way to put it.”

Opponents of the Stand Up for Democracy effort plan to defend their stance when the Court of Appeals holds oral arguments on the issue.

Stand Up for Democracy considers Public Act 4 of 2011 undemocratic because it allows emergency managers to toss out union contracts and strip power from locally elected leaders. But supporters of the Michigan law, including Gov. Rick Snyder, say it provides the tools necessary to help financially struggling cities and schools fix their finances more quickly and effectively.

If the canvassers had certified the Stand Up for Democracy petitions, the law would have been suspended pending the outcome of a November vote. But as of now, the law remains in effect.

The state has appointed emergency managers to run the cities of Benton Harbor, Ecorse, Flint and Pontiac. Emergency managers run school districts in Detroit, Highland Park and Muskegon Heights.

Email Tim Martin at tmartin4@mlive.com. Follow him on Twitter: @TimMartinMI