Eric Mays……. A true voice for the people of Flint and victim of First Amendment Rights Violation

Joseph Cannizzo • April 28, 2023

As the ancient Greek political philosopher Plato wrote in his seminal work, the Republic, “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” It is a sentiment that is as true today as it was in the days of ancient Greece.

Today, however, in the city of Flint, Michigan, there is a politician who is trying to participate in the political process – trying to be a voice for the people he was elected to represent – but who, unfortunately, is being denied the opportunity to do so by some of those very “inferiors” that Plato wrote about. That brave politician is Flint City Councilman Eric Mays.

Mays was first elected to his seat on the Flint City Council in 2013, winning his election over candidate Anita Brown to represent the City’s 1st Ward. The 1st Ward is located to the far north of Flint, roughly from Clio Road to the west to Saginaw Street to the east, and from Carpenter Road to the north and Person Road to the south. Four years later, Councilman Mays defeated Brown a second time.

In 2021, Councilman Mays was re-elected for a third term.

Despite Councilman Mays’ clear popularity with his Genesee County constituency, Mays is far less popular with many of his fellow City Councilmembers. Councilman Mays has repeatedly faced censorship from his fellow Councilmembers, with the Council even going so far as to refuse Mays reentry into the Council meeting chamber after excusing himself to use the lavatory.

This unjust censorship of Mays came to a head just over a year ago, on April 25, 2022, when he was ordered to leave a City Council meeting by Council President Allie Herkenroder, after she claimed he had left his seat and returned without permission. Mays was subsequently removed from the meeting by police who escorted him from the meeting in handcuffs.

Mays was subsequently charged with a disorderly conduct misdemeanor in connection with the event, however, even the Genesee County 67th Judicial District Court Judge Vikki Bayeh-Haley who sentenced Mays stated during the sentencing that, “He was right. He did have the right to stay in [his] seat. The City Council made the wrong ruling.”

Despite Council President Herkenroder claiming that Councilman Mays left his seat and attempted to return without permission, video from the City Council meeting showed that Mays specifically asked Herkenroder if he could be excused.

“May I ask to be excused? Because you won’t get the pleasure of throwing me out,” Mays asked.

“Yes, you may be excused,” Herkenroder replied.

Given the exchange, Judge Bayeh-Haley remarked at the sentencing that, “Whether [President Herkenroder] intended to lie or was mistaken... [Mays] did have permission to leave and return.”

About the Flint City Council, Judge Bayeh-Haley remarked, “Ideally, I would like to have some type of coach or person come in and work with the entire council to try to teach them how to work together. It would be nice if they could do that on their own.”

But “working together” does not appear to a primary objective for many of the members on the Flint City Council, including members Ladel Lewis, Judy Priestley, Eva Worthing, Dennis Pfeiffer, and Council President Herkenroder, who continue to attempt to censor Councilman Mays.

Last month, in March 2023, Councilman Mays decided to take action. Realizing that the silencing of his voice by his fellow Councilmembers was really the silencing of the hundreds of voices of his constituents, Councilman Mays retained our office, Lento Law Group, P.C., to combat this unjust and unconstitutional abridgement of not only his First Amendment rights, but the ongoing disenfranchisement of those citizens of the 1st Ward whom Mays has been repeatedly elected to represented.

Most recently, Councilman Mays is leading the charge to compensate those in Flint who have suffered property damage and loss as a result of the City’s long-standing sewage backup problem. Mays plans to bring forth a Resolution which will expedite the claims process and ensure sufficient funds are held in reserve to continue to pay damage claims in connection with the ongoing sewage backup issue.

This is just one of the ways in which Council Mays is fighting for the people of Flint, not just within the 1st Ward, but overall. Even so, his fellow City Councilmembers seem intent on continuing to try to shut Mays down at every turn.

But in retaining Lento Law Group, P.C. – which only last month sent Cease & Desist letters to several of the City Councilmembers who have been repeatedly and flagrantly encroaching on Councilman Mays’ rights – Councilman Mays is making perfectly clear that the battle for the soul of Flint has only just begun, and he has no intention of backing down.

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The Education Department is opening fewer sexual violence investigations as Trump dismantles it

January 17, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — Before President Donald Trump’s administration started dismantling the Education Department, the agency served as a powerful enforcer in cases of sexual violence at schools and universities. It brought the weight of the government against schools that mishandled sexual assault complaints involving students. That work is quickly fading away. The department’s Office for Civil Rights was gutted in Trump’s mass layoffs last year, leaving half as many lawyers to investigate complaints of discrimination based on race, sex or disability in schools. Those who remain face a backlog of more than 25,000 cases. Investigations have dwindled. Before the layoffs last March, the office opened dozens of sexual violence investigations a year. Since then, it’s opened fewer than 10 nationwide, according to internal data obtained by The Associated Press. Yet Trump’s Republican administration has doubled down on sexual discrimination cases of another kind. Trump officials have used Title IX, a 1972 gender equality law, against schools that make accommodations for transgender students and athletes. The Office for Civil Rights has opened nearly 50 such investigations since Trump took office a year ago. Even before the layoffs, critics said the office was understaffed and moved too slowly. Now, many firms that handle Title IX cases have stopped filing complaints, calling it a dead end. “It almost feels like you’re up against the void,” said Katie McKay, a lawyer at the New York firm C.A. Goldberg. “It feels like a big question mark right now,” she said. “How are we supposed to hold a school accountable once it has messed up?” An Education Department spokesperson said the office is working through its caseload, blaming President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration for leaving a backlog and rewriting Title IX rules to protect LGBTQ+ students. Trump officials rolled back those rules. “The Trump Administration has restored commonsense safeguards against sexual violence by returning sex-based separation in intimate facilities,” spokesperson Julie Hartman said. “OCR is and will continue to safeguard the dignity and safety of our nation’s students.” Students have few other places to turn The layoffs have slowed work at the Office for Civil Rights across the board, but it has an outsize impact on cases of sexual violence. Students who are mistreated by their schools — including victims and accused students alike — have few other venues to pursue justice. Many are now left with two options: File a lawsuit or walk away. One woman said she’s losing hope for a complaint she filed in 2024. She alleges her graduate school failed to follow its own policies when it suspended but didn’t expel another student found by the school to have sexually assaulted her. No one has contacted her about the complaint since 2024. The woman recently sued her school as a last resort. She said it feels like a David and Goliath mismatch. “They have all the power, because there is no large organization holding them accountable. It’s just me, just this one individual who’s filing this simple suit,” the woman said. The AP does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission. The civil rights office is supposed to provide a free alternative to litigation. Anyone can file a complaint, which can trigger an investigation and sanctions for schools that violate federal law. In 2024, the agency received more than 1,000 complaints involving sexual violence or sexual harassment, according to an annual report. It’s unclear how many complaints have been filed more recently. Trump’s administration has not reported newer figures. In conversations with the AP, some staffers said cases are piling up so quickly they can’t track how many involve sexual violence. In December, the department acknowledged the civil rights backlog and announced dozens of downsized workers would be brought back to the office amid a legal challenge to their layoffs. The workers’ return offers some hope to those with pending civil rights complaints. Department officials have vowed to keep pushing for the layoffs. Historically, the feds have held schools and colleges accountable Before Trump was elected to his second term, the office had more than 300 pending investigations involving sexual assault, according to a public database. Most of those cases are believed to be sitting idle as investigators prioritize easier complaints, according to staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. The details of past cases underscore the urgency of the work. In 2024, the office took action against a Pennsylvania school system after a girl with a disability told staff she had been sexually touched by a bus driver. She was put back on that driver’s bus later that afternoon, plus the next two days. The district was required to designate a Title IX coordinator for its schools, review previous complaints and consider compensation for the girl’s family. That year, the office demanded changes at a Montana school where a boy was pinned down by other students and assaulted after a wrestling practice. The students had been suspended for three days after school officials treated it as a case of hazing instead of sexual assault. In another case, the office sided with a University of Notre Dame student who had been expelled over accusations of sexual misconduct. The student said the college never told him precisely what he was accused of and refused to interview witnesses he put forward. Cases that get attention from the federal office are being handled under federal rules created during Trump’s first term. Those rules were designed to bolster the rights of students accused of sexual misconduct. Lawyers who work with accused students see little improvement. Justin Dillon, a Washington lawyer, said some of his recent complaints have been opened for investigation. He tells clients not to hold their breath. Even before the layoffs, cases could drag on for years, he said. Others gave up on the office years ago. The LLF National Law Firm said it stopped filing complaints in 2021 in favor of suing schools directly. Lawyers at the firm said the office had become incapable of delivering timely outcomes, which was only worsened by the layoffs. Complaints can be resolved several ways. They can be dismissed if they don’t pass legal muster. Many go to mediation, akin to a settlement. Some end in voluntary agreements from schools, with plans to rectify past wrongs and prevent future ones. In 2024, under Biden, the office secured 23 voluntary agreements from schools and colleges in cases involving sexual violence, according to a public database. In 2018, during Trump’s first term, there were 58. Since Trump took office again last year, there have been none. The dismantling of the Office for Civil Rights comes as a blow to Laura Dunn, a civil rights lawyer who was influential in getting President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration to make campus sexual assault a priority. As the issue gained public attention, the office started fielding hundreds of complaints a year. “All the progress survivors have made by sharing their story is being lost,” said Dunn, who’s now a Democratic candidate for Congress in New York. “We are literally losing civil rights progress in the United States, and it’s pushing us back more than 50 years.” ___ The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

What the Next Artificial Intelligence Phase Means for School Discipline

By By: Joseph D. Lento September 8, 2025 • September 12, 2025

Artificial intelligence continues to make big changes on school campuses at all levels nationwide. Students have already learned how helpful AI tools can be for studies. Yet students have also experienced a frightening wave of school academic misconduct charges alleging misuse of those AI tools. LLG National Law Group’s premier attorneys have rallied to the defense of students accused of AI misuse, defending and defeating school misconduct charges for students at all levels nationwide. But the latest wave of AI chatbot tools threatens to once again transform the school misconduct landscape. Call 833.536.8652 now to retain the LLG National Law Group’s highly qualified attorneys if you face artificial intelligence issues with your school. Student Use of AI Tools in School To this point, students have used ChatGPT and other general artificial intelligence tools, and similar tools designed more specifically for education, to aid their studies. Students have used general AI tools to propose paper topics, suggest paper organization, flag spelling and grammar errors, and suggest improvements in writing. Students have also used general AI tools to correct problem answers, explain subjects more thoroughly, and for similar traditional study purposes. These uses of AI have made studies more efficient and productive, speeding learning. Chat Bots as the Next Phase of School AI Tools Artificial intelligence chatbots, though, are further accelerating the pace of technological change in schools. Students are now able to use platforms like Schoolhub.ai to create their own individual AI-powered chatbot as a personal study assistant, tailored to their specific needs and school program. Getting ready for school once meant buying notebooks and pencils. It later meant buying a laptop computer or tablet. Today, preparing for school may mean creating and training your own chatbot as a personal study assistant. The Discipline Risk of Chat Bots Teachers, professors, departments, and schools have all been slow in developing and publishing policies on student use of AI tools. That delay led to a first wave of student academic misconduct charges for misusing readily available, greatly helpful, and widely used AI tools. Our attorneys have been busy turning back that first wave of AI misuse charges. The new AI-powered chatbots, though, don’t just write assigned papers or answer exam problems, as specifically prohibited by many school policies. The AI chatbots are instead active student study partners, more like a human tutor than a computer program or other digital tool. Schools need to quickly modify their AI policies to help students take due advantage of these powerful new learning tools, rather than to punish students for getting the help they need. Premier Student AI Misconduct Defense Available Retain the LLG National Law Group’s premier attorneys if you are a student facing AI misconduct charges in a school disciplinary proceeding. Our attorneys are ready to help you defend your AI chatbot use or other use of AI tools. We help hundreds of students nationwide defend and defeat student code of conduct charges of all kinds. Call 833.536.8652 now for the representation you need for your best possible student discipline outcome.