The American Freedom Law Center, a conservative public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, won a round in court on Jan. 15 when motions to dismiss the group’s lawsuit were denied. The group is suing Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Agustin Arbulu, former director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, on the grounds of a constitutional rights violation. The lawsuit began last February when Nessel and Arbulu issued a press release in response to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s annual Hate Group Map identifying active hate groups across the country; the report listed 31 hate groups in Michigan, a 6.5-percent increase as compared to the previous year. The report identifies the Ann Arbor-based AFLC as an anti-Muslim hate group. In response, Nessel and Abulu announced the establishment of a hate crimes unit in the attorney general’s office as well as a database to document incidents of hate and bias. On March 8, Nessel released an additional press release officially establishing the new hate crimes unit and reaffirming her commitment to protecting all organizations’ rights to freedom of speech. Nessel also said it was her responsibility to take action against possible hate crimes stemming from offensive or bigoted language. “When a criminal offense is committed against a person or property and it is motivated by an offender’s bias against a particular group, then my office will act,” Nessel said. The complaint contends that the AFLC is being unfairly targeted by this policy directive based on political views and has suffered injury to its reputation. The group claims the policy directive put forth by Nessel and Arbulu infringes on their right to free speech, protected by the First Amendment, and their rights to expressive association and equal protection of the law, both protected by the 14th Amendment. Nessel and Arbulu filed separate motions to dismiss, however, District Judge Paul Maloney denied these motions, meaning the lawsuit will move on to the discovery phase. “Defendants’ general disagreement with the scope and nature of their new initiative does not undermine the effect that the announcement of the new policy on AFLC’s reputation and activities, as established by the affidavit submitted by AFLC,” Maloney wrote in the opinion. “And, assuming the allegations in the complaint to be true, AFLC has pled sufficient facts to state claims under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.” The SPLC is an Alabama- based, nonprofit legal advocacy organization focusing on civil rights. The group’s oft-cited Intelligence Report identify and track hate groups across the nation, however, the group has faced recent criticism questioning the SPLC’s definitions of hate and extremism and defending some of the groups and individuals targeted by hate group reports. The SPLC declined to comment at the time of this story, however, the group has published multiple articles regarding the AFLC’s anti-Muslim stance. The Intelligence Report defines “anti-Muslim” hate groups as those which “exhibit extreme hostility toward Muslims … and attribute to (Islam’s) followers an inherent set of negative traits.” In a profile on David Yerushalmi, co-founder and senior counsel of the AFLC, the SPLC outlines Yerushalmi’s history of anti- Muslim activism. In an article titled “Is the War Against Terror Rational?”, Yerushalmi condemns Islam. “We must be prepared to fight a full-scale war against all nations and people who advocate, accommodate, or acquiesce to the Islamic world view,” Yerushalmi wrote. “We will never defeat ‘radical Islam’ without defeating Islam itself because they are one and the same.” The SPLC cites the AFLC’s amicus curiae brief from February 2018 supporting President Trump’s “extreme vetting” travel policy as further evidence of anti- Muslim hate. The analysis of the brief draws attention to misinformation put forth about Sharia, Islamic law. “Its religiously-laden terms such as ‘Islamic radicalism’ and ‘sharia supremacism’ does little to mask the brief’s anti-Muslim agenda,” the SPLC writes. “It also makes the fundamental mistake of equating sharia with ideological extremism, when in fact it is merely a set of guiding principles to living a moral life set out in the Qur’an and is akin to how halacha is practiced among many religiously-observant Jews.” The SPLC further denounces the AFLC’s American Laws for American Courts initiative, a legislative model for bills prohibiting foreign laws in American courts, focused specifically on Sharia “law.” The SPLC points out that Sharia is not actually law and that such a protection is already guaranteed by the Constitution. They sayconclude that the ALAC initiative is an attempt to promote unfounded fear, linking anti-Muslim legislative rhetoric to increasing hate crimes against American Muslims. “Driven by hate groups, the ALAC initiative has created unfounded fear, and has sought to demonize Islam and American Muslims across the nation through legislation and rhetoric,” the SPLC writes. Robert Muise, AFLC co-founder and senior counsel, said he felt confident about the case’s outcome following this victory. “In light of the judge’s ruling on that motion to dismiss, I’m quite confident that we’re going to ultimately prevail,” Muise said. “And our ultimate goal is to protect the rights to freedom of speech and right to expressive association, and to prevent government officials from weaponizing their offices for political purposes.” Law School student Kevin Deutsch said he wasn’t surprised the motions to dismiss were denied. 2 — Friday, February 7, 2020 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com News TUESDAY: By Design THURSDAY: Twitter Talk FRIDAY: Behind the Story WEDNESDAY: This Week in History MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers B E HIND THE STORY Every Friday, one Daily staffer will give a behind the scenes look at one of this week’s stories. This week, LSA senior Julia Fanzeres on her story “Solomon Rajput is riding the socialist wave”: “I chose to do this story because when Solomon first announced his candidacy it was very fascinating because he’s a med student taking a leave of absence to take on an 85-year old political dynasty here in Ann Arbor, the Dingell family, and I just really wanted to know more about the person and what were his motivations behind his campaign and the pillars of his platform. So it started off Solomon and I had already spoken for a couple pieces. So we got in contact with this campaign and we decided a day for me to follow him around while he was canvassing with his ‘army’, as he likes to call it of grassroots volunteers. And then I, along with a photographer, Alec Cohen, went along to canvass with him and just to really see how that was like with a fellow of his Alec. So that was really fascinating to be able to see the canvassing and the inspiration that he had throughout the entire campaign. It was also great to hear from Congresswoman Dingell I was able to get her perspective on Solomon Rajput campaign and how she differs a little bit.” ALEC COHEN/Daily QUOTE OF THE WE E K “ It’s difficult for any campaign to make the convincing argument for your candidate and have them show up and cast a ballot, but it’s increasingly difficult when it’s a caucus, when it’s a specific night at a specific time,” Ouellette said. “And not only that, you don’t get to go behind the curtain and cast a ballot. You are visibly out there for a candidate. You have to stand in line, stand in one place, and your body represents your vote.” Roger Ouellette, communications director for the Sanders campaign in Iowa, speaks at the Iowa caucus Law firm called ‘hate group’ by SPLC wins round in lawsuit against MI American Freedom Law Center claims Dana Nessel violated constitutional speech rights ANGELINA LITTLE Daily Staff Reporter 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. 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