Michigan stripped the voting rights from people who live in Detroit, Flint, and other cities and school districts placed under emergency management.
That was a central argument today as opponents of the law took their legal challenge to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
Attorney John Philo says the law is also racist in the way it’s been applied.
“Voting rights were granted through the power to elect school boards, mayors, city council people, but then taken back by the emergency manager law in a way that has disproportionately and unfairly impacted communities of color throughout this state,” Philo said.
If the challenge succeeds, the case would go back to a lower court for trial.
A federal judge in Detroit dismissed complaints that the emergency manager law violates equal protection and voting rights.
GUEST John Philo is executive director of the Maurice & Jane Sugar Law Center.
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