ACLU sues to block Michigan State Police from Matrix database

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan has sued to halt the Michigan State Police's participation in a multistate crime and terrorism database, saying the agency is illegally sharing criminal record data, arrest records and other information about individuals. The lawsuit was filed late Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court on behalf of the ACLU and three individuals, including former Republican Gov. William Milliken and peace activist Elizabeth LaForest, a Roman Catholic nun. The filing came less than a month after officials who oversee the federally funded Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange -- "Matrix" for short -- announced there would be a major change in the database to allay privacy and legal concerns. The suit cites Michigan's Interstate Law Enforcement Intelligence Organizations Act, which Milliken signed in 1980. The Legislature passed the law after learning that Michigan police, during the 1960s and 1970s, developed and maintained files on hundreds of residents who had committed no crimes but were involved in civil rights and anti-war movements of the time. [more]