Civil Rights Litigation Initiative

08/25/2026

Come celebrate public interest students' commitment to make the world a better place!

08/24/2026

CRLI Interns Day in Detroit!

08/16/2026

Congratulations to CRLI for a silver medal in the exciting 2026 Summer Clinic Olympics! Despite CRLI winning the gold medal in two out of the three events (foosball and ping pong), the Low Income Tax Clinic ended up squeaking out a one-point victory in the competition. The Clinic Olympics trophy will sit in the LITC office for a year until, with a little luck and some hard training, it will make its way back to CRLI’s office!

08/07/2026

Sophie Helfer is a rising 2L and a summer student attorney at the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative. She is originally from Havertown, Pennsylvania, and dual majored in Law, Letter, and Society and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of Chicago. Before law school, Sophie was a writing tutor and worked as a case assistant at a law firm in Chicago.

At Michigan Law, Sophie is a member of the International Law Society and was a junior editor for the Michigan Journal of Race & Law and the Michigan Journal of International Law. She is passionate about free speech, racial justice, and know your rights advocacy. In her free time, Sophie enjoys knitting, drawing, and reading.

08/05/2026

CRLI has been working on several immigrant rights cases and projects. Recently, we represented a Michigander who was being held in ICE detention for over a year -- even though the country where he was born refused to take him back, and even though ICE no plan to deport him to a third country. We filed a habeas petition arguing that detaining our client indefinitely was unlawful. A federal judge agreed and just ordered his release. Hopefully, he'll go back to fishing again soon!

Congrats to CRLI Student Attorneys David Seaman, Hannah Grosserichter, Kal Muroco, and Laura Greer on this great victory!

07/09/2026

Hannah Grosserichter (she/her) is a summer student attorney with the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative and a rising 2L at the University of Michigan Law School. Hannah is from Munich, Germany and received her B.A. in Classics and History from Brown University. Prior to law school, Hannah worked as a paralegal for four years, most recently at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

At Michigan Law, Hannah volunteers with the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, where she is excited to be a project manager next year. Outside of school, Hannah loves to cook, read for fun, work on jigsaw puzzles, and have long conversations with friends.

07/06/2026

CRLI represented the Huntington Wood Peace Group after Huntington Woods instituted rules preventing it from advocating for social justice in the July 4th parade. Here are some photos of signs they made for the parade.

07/05/2026

CRLI went to bat for the Huntington Woods Peace Group after Huntington Woods adopted new rules for the July 4th parade forbidding the group from holding signs advocating social justice issues.

“The rules betray the bedrock principles of free speech upon which our country was founded," CRLI wrote in a letter to Huntington Woods.

A group in Huntington Woods says new speech rules in 4th of July parade 'betray' their rights to free speech

06/25/2026

Sarah De Falco is a rising 2L and a student attorney at CRLI this summer. She is originally from New Jersey and received a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Michigan Program in the Environment. Prior to law school, Sarah worked in environmental communications for the Environmental Media Association and conducted research on affordable housing and disaster recovery.

At Michigan Law, Sarah is a volunteer with the Sentence Commutation Project and is a member of the Environmental Law Society. Sarah is passionate about environmental justice, housing rights, and civil rights, and hopes to pursue a career in Legal Aid after law school. In her free time, Sarah enjoys painting and rowing.

06/22/2026

WATER EXPERT SUES EPA AFTER SHE WAS FIRED FOR SIGNING A PETITION

“In the United States, everyone is entitled to exercise their First Amendment right to speak out on matters of public concern such as the environment,” said Dana Chen, a student attorney with CRLI. “By firing dedicated public servants and scientists like Ms. Warn Betanzo, the EPA not only undermines free speech protections, but it also places the public in jeopardy.”

See press release: https://www.csldf.org/press/warn-betanzo-epa/