The
American
Civil
Liberties Union of Michigan
is fighting back against a new
city ordinance that bans any
unauthorized displays of the
city’s seal or flag.
In a three-page letter to
the city dated Nov. 1, Dan
Korobkin,
deputy
legal
director
for
the
ACLU’s
Michigan
chapter,
and
Gayle
Rosen,
co-chair
of
the
Washtenaw
County
ACLU Lawyers Committee,
called
the
ordinance
unconstitutional
on
the
grounds of free speech.
“We strongly urge the
city to repeal the ordinance,
and in the meantime the
city attorney’s office should
disclaim
any
intent
to
enforce it,” they wrote. “Such
a
restriction
is
clearly
unconstitutional.”
Under
the
ordinance,
which City Council passed
during its July 2 meeting, any
displays “on any written or
printed materials that are not
official city publications,” are
forbidden without explicit
permission from the mayor.
Violations of the ordinance
are punishable by fines of up
to $10,000.
In a memo to the council
supporting the passage of
the
ordinance,
Matthew
Rechtien,
senior
assistant
city
attorney,
explained
the reasoning behind it. He
claimed
the
unauthorized
use of these symbols led
to
documents
originating
from
third
parties
being
misconstrued as being from
the city.
“The city’s flag and seal are
symbols of, and have value
to, the city,” Rechtien wrote.
“Vendors
and
potential
vendors to the city, and other
third-parties, however, use
these symbols for things
like proposals or bids to
the city, usually without
any city permission.”
The ordinance was
enforced shortly after
it
was
passed
when
Ann
Arbor
resident
Ed Vielmetti was sent
a “cease and desist”
notice when he used the
city seal in a localwiki.
org entry specifically
about the seal.
The ACLU is arguing
the ordinance infringes
on free speech. While
Vielmetti
has
since
been given permission
from the mayor to use
the seal, the ACLU still
sees the ordinance as an
issue.
“No one else who
wishes
to
display
the city’s seal or flag
should have to risk a
threatening letter from
a public official, or ask
the mayor’s permission,
before
engaging
in
speech
or
expression
that is clearly protected
by the First Amendment,” the
ACLU letter states, referring
to Vielmetti’s situation.
The letter was addressed
to
Ann
Arbor
Mayor
Christopher Taylor and City
Attorney Stephen Postema,
and both have responded
saying they are going to look
at the ordinance and make
sure they are within their
rights.
“Certainly I have all the
respect in the world for the
outstanding work performed
by the ACLU,” Taylor said.
“After the ACLU’s letter, we
are going to take a very close
look at what we have and
make sure that we’ve got it
right.”
In the letter, Korobkin and
Rosen
communicate
they
do not think any ordinance
like
the
one
passed
in
July would pass a test of
constitutionality.
“As
a
content-based
restriction on speech, the
ordinance is subject to strict
scrutiny and cannot survive
that
rigorous
test,”
the
letter states. “And requiring
the mayor’s permission to
display the seal or flag is a
classic unconstitutional prior
restraint on speech.”
According
to
Postema,
the city plans to discuss the
ordinance with the council
in December, and strike a
balance between protecting
the
city’s
interests
and
addressing the concerns of
the ACLU.
A DROWNING WORLD
2 — Tuesday, November 13, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
SARAH KUNKEL/Daily
Artist Gideon Mendel’s Drowning World installation shows the human effects of flooding and climate change at South Thayer Building and
will be on view November 9th through December 18th.
TUESDAY:
By Design
THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk
FRIDAY:
Behind the Story
WEDNESDAY:
This Week in History
MONDAY:
Looking at the Numbers
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com
ARTS SECTION
arts@michigandaily.com
SPORTS SECTION
sports@michigandaily.com
ADVERTISING
dailydisplay@gmail.com
NEWS TIPS
news@michigandaily.com
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com
NATHAN GUPTA
Business Manager
734-418-4115 ext. 1241
nathankg@michigandaily.com
ALEXA ST. JOHN
Editor in Chief
734-418-4115 ext. 1251
alexastj@michigandaily.com
PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com
NEWSROOM
734-418-4115 opt. 3
CORRECTIONS
corrections@michigandaily.com
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the
fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is available
free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for
$2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275.
University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions
for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid.
DAYTON HARE
Managing Editor haredayt@michigandaily.com
RIYAH BASHA and SOPHIE SHERRY
Managing News Editor news@michigandaily.com
Senior News Editors: Andrew Hiyama, Carly Ryan, Kaela Theut, Matt Harmon,
Maya Goldman
Assistant News Editors: Jordyn Baker, Remy Farkas, Julia Ford, Elizabeth
Lawrence, Rachel Cunningham, Molly Norris, Maeve O’Brien, Sayali Amin,
Danielle Pasekoff, Katherina Sourine
ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY and ASHLEY ZHANG
Editorial Page Editors
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Senior Opinion Editors: Tara Jayaram, Joel Danilewitz, Jeremy Kaplan, Ben
Charlson, Magdalena Mihaylova
MIKE PERSAK and LANEY BYLER
Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com
DANIELLE YACOBSON and MADELEINE GAUDIN
Managing Arts Editors
arts@michigandaily.com
Senior Arts Editors: Becky Portman, Sam Rosenberg, Arya Naidu, Dominic
Polsinelli
Arts Beat Editors: Jack Brandon, Fallon Gates, Shima Sadaghiyani, Tess Garcia,
Sofia Lynch
ALEXIS RANKIN and KATELYN MULCAHY
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com
ROSEANNE CHAO and CASEY TIN
Managing Design Editors
design@michigandaily.com
Senior Design Editor: Jack Silberman
BRIAN KUANG
Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com
Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford, Jennifer Meer
FINN STORER and ELISE LAARMAN
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com
Senior Copy Editors: Emily Stillman, Allie Bopp, Miriam Francisco
ROBERT LESSER and JORDAN WOLFF
Managing Online Editors
lesserrc@michigandaily.com
Senior Web Developers: Patricia Huang, Abna Panda, Hassaan Ali Wattoo,
Rebecca Tung
NOAH TAPPEN
Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com
Senior Video Editors: Abe Lofy, Robby Weinbaum, Jillian Drzinski, Danielle Kim
JASON ROWLAND and ASHLEY TJHUNG
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com
Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Zainab Bhindarwala,
Christian Paneda, Nisa Khan, Na’kia Channey
Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Angelo McKoy, Kareem Shunnar, Maya
Mokh, Efe Osagie, Samuel So
KAYLA WATERMAN and CARRINGTON TUBMAN
Managing Social Media Editors
Editorial Staff
Business Staff
CAMERON COANE
Sales Manager
JEFFREY ZHANG
Local Accounts Manager
ALEC SPELLER
Marketing Consulting Manager
DEANA ZHU
Special Projects Manager
MARIO DRESAJ
Brand Manager
ROHIT IYER
Business Development Manager
Senior Photo Editors: Amelia Cacchione, Emma Richter, Evan Aaron, Claire Meingast
Assistant Photo Editors: Alice Liu, Darby Stipe, Max Kuang, Ryan McLoughlin,
Alec Cohen
Senior Sports Editors: Mark Calcagno, Robert Hefter, Max Marcovitch, Anna
Marcus, Paige Voeffray
Assistant Sports Editors: Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Matthew Kennedy, Tien Le,
Ethan Sears, Jacob Shames, Avi Sholkoff
ADRIANNA KUSMIERCZYK
Creative Director
AVERY FRIEDMAN
Managing Podcast Editor
ACLU says ordinance banning outside
use of City’s seal is “unconstitutional”
MOLLY NORRIS
Daily Staff Reporter
The rules of Sudoku are simple. Enter digits from 1 to 9 into
the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So
must every column, as must every 3x3 square.
Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be solved without
guessing. Good Luck and enjoy!
sudoku
Puzzle by websudoku.com
4
9
2
5
5
3
7
2
9
1 4
8
5
6
9
3
6 5
3
7
8
4
5
7
1
6
2
Puzzle by websudoku.com
29TH U.S. PRESIDENT
puzzle
by
sudokusyndication.com
JULIA LAUER/Daily
Ordinance passed in July allows up to $10,000 in fines for unauthorized
use of City’s seal to prevent false implications of affiliation with City