Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice

The Michigan Supreme Court will hear arguments in the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center's lawsuit against the state for wrongly denying wage loss benefits to immigrants injured at work The lower court adopted arguments of the state's AG that radically change state law and will severely curtail people's right to bring claims in court to stop the unconstitutional acts of government officials. “There’s no way we can say the state is free to commit unconstitutional acts or continue to implement unconstitutional policies in perpetuity in the future with no ability of citizens who are impacted to remedy that,” said John Philo from the Sugar Law Center. Along with FarmStand, our office is proud to be representing MIRC in this matter.

Thanks to Engage Michigan for these videos - please remember that your voting is not finished until you VOTE IN THE MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT races on the ballot in November!

The civil lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit by DAD DELPHINE ALFRED DUNCAN FOUNDATION FOR THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING and its volunteers Jason Pauling, Zion White, Shatia Tankersley and Deangelo Simmons, all of Detroit and who are deaf or hard of hearing. "This lawsuit is just about basic fairness and dignity and respect of folks who are members of the community, who are valuable members and who should be treated as such," said John Philo, an attorney with the Sugar Law Center For Economic & Social Justice in Detroit, which filed the discrimination lawsuit under the?Americans with Disabilities Act?and Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act.

But the commission doesn't make it easy for consumers to formally complain if they were subject to a rule violation, critics say. First, consumers have to know what rule or law was actually violated. A business, regardless of size, must be represented by a lawyer. Individuals can represent themselves. Liz Jacob, a lawyer with the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, a nonprofit law firm that represents low-income families in metro Detroit, said some consumers may find the formal complaint process daunting because "it feels like a trial, a court proceeding."

“If [a constitutional] violation is occurring today, and then the same violation occurs tomorrow, the same violation occurs a month from now or two years from now, what the court has decided is that the timeliness [of a suit to stop the violation] is determined solely by that initial violation.” This is wrong. said John Philo [from the Sugar Law Center For Economic & Social Justice].

"Amid the buzz ... some voices in the city are questioning whether it will directly benefit residents. This includes attorney Tonya Myers Phillips, community partnerships and development director for the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. She says the renovation of Michigan Central Station is a good thing, but a disproportionate emphasis on brick-and-mortar structures does not directly translate into improving the quality of life for everyday people. Some parts of the city are not affordable for the average resident, and corporate buyers are driving that lack of affordability,” says Phillips."

"In Michigan, Jacob Fallman works as an advocate with the Sugar Law Center, working on behalf of claimants in accessing the state’s UI system ... Fallman highlighted the challenges for access and protecting due process that emerge from government systems that are not well integrated ... because the UIA promotes online claims filing, he argues that it sets an expectation that all claim related information, including appeals, will be available online by a claimant. However, this is not the case and claimants have missed appeal deadlines because of this false expectation."

Another big welcome to two more students who have joined us this summer - Shelby Campbell from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and Amen Salha from Dartmouth College! It has been great working with them over the past month.

A big welcome to law students Madeline Gehrig from Saint Louis University and Victoria Thor from Wayne State University who are helping out here at the Sugar Law Center this summer!