Washtenaw County commissioner banned in '07 from Michigan president's office bears no grudge, wants to meet - elsewhere
As Washtenaw County’s youngest commissioner, 22-year old Yousef Rabhi is excited to forge strong relationships with the University of Michigan, his alma mater.
He just can’t do so at Fleming Administration Building. University police can arrest Rabhi there. That’s because campus police arrested Rabhi and banned him from the building after he and others staged a sit-in in Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman’s office there in April 2007 over the school’s purported use of sweatshop labor for U-M apparel.
The protesters wore suits. Rabhi, a freshman at the time, said police were respectful and friendly, and that, despite the ban, his subsequent interactions with Coleman have remained cordial. He said neither side was threatening or upset that day.
Yousef Rahbi, a Washtenaw County commissioner, was banned from the Fleming Building on the University of Michigan campus in 2007. It's unlikely the ban would be enforced if he visited.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
Under an internal policy that governs sit-ins at the president’s office, protesters who refuse to leave after business hours can be arrested, according to university officials. Police charged 12 members of the group with unlawfully remaining at a place of higher education, a misdemeanor. Police had respectfully asked them to leave, he said, and the protestors respectfully declined.
“In the courts, my record is clean. But I guess the university hasn’t taken us off their trespass list,” he said.
It’s unlikely police would place him under arrest, said Diane Brown, spokesperson for the U-M Department of Public Safety.
“They need to do something else for us to arrest them the next time. Like be disruptive, or a possible suspect in some kind of crime. He can also appeal,” she said.
Reminded of the ban on Friday, Rahbi said he called to make an appointment with police to get it reversed.
University officials are examining the trespass policy following months of AnnArbor.com reports on its use and complaints from the American Civil Liberties Union that the lifelong bans can be used to chill free speech. Rahbi is among roughly 2,050 individuals barred for life from all of or a portion of campus under the school's trespass policy.
It’s not clear how old cases, like Rabhi’s, will be handled going forward, said Suellyn Scarnecchia, vice president and general counsel for U-M, at a press event Friday to address changes to the school’s trespass policy.
Rahbi would really like to meet with Coleman, he said, and foster a good relationship between the county and the university.
Where?
“I don’t know, probably the union or somewhere else. The university has all kinds of buildings we could probably meet in,” he said.
Juliana Keeping is a health and environment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter
Comments
Rory Gilmore
Sun, Apr 17, 2011 : 5:58 a.m.
Why is Yousef the focus of this story, I'd like to know more about the actual problem. Seeing that his arrest 4/5 years ago is a non-story to begin with; If anything it would have been a story during the actual election.
MikeyP
Tue, Mar 15, 2011 : 2:40 a.m.
I just gotta laugh. This past weekend the President writes an op-ed where he calls for law enforcement agencies to provide thorough and accurate information on those who pose a threat to the community yet you 0bama-worshippers are doing your darndest to prevent law enforcement from doing just that! Just throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I'm sure nothing bad will come of it. Don't worry, I'll be the FIRST to say "I told you so!" when it does.
Gregory Fox
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 3:34 p.m.
Yousef Rabhi can be justifiably proud of his arrest record. The demonstration in 2007 was non-violent and respectful. He put himself on the line to help the less fortunate. That's a sign of leadership.
jcj
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 3:01 p.m.
@ annarboral I guess its because YOU have never chosen to run for office! How ridiculous to infer that anyone that participated in a peaceful demonstration should never be elected to public office. I am a conservative through and through! But even I recognize that people not only have the right to protest but in some cases the obligation to protest against certain policies. I don't have to agree with them to understand that others that have different opinions are not necessarily evil just different!
David Cahill
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 2:12 p.m.
Congrats to AnnArbor.com for following up on this continuing problem. You got a copy of the list of banned people by using the Freedom of Information Act, you spotted Rabhi's name, and you did this story. That's what local journalism should be about.
annarboral
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 1:24 p.m.
A better perspective is to ask why people like this get elecetd to represent us. Surely we can find lots of other people that better represent the tax paying people of this county. Why don't mature, responsible people step forward?
Loopy
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 3:17 p.m.
Then why don't you run? No one's stopping you.
lynel
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 1:34 p.m.
Are you serious?
jcj
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 1:11 p.m.
"Well, if he would acted like a mature adult to begin with there is no story." There are more than a few privileges YOU have because some did not "act like a mature adult" ! IF there is something in his background that has a bearing on this trespass enlighten us. If it has nothing to do with this enlighten us on another topic.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 1:03 p.m.
"Well, if he would acted like a mature adult to begin with there is no story." Yes, public entities ought to be able to ban taxpaying citizens from their grounds without any due process because someone acted in a way it deemed "immature". Deutschland Deutschland uber alles Good Night and Good Luck
Craig Lounsbury
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 1:03 p.m.
"Well, if he would acted like a mature adult to begin with there is no story." One could argue if we all "acted like a mature adult" "Negro's" would still ride in the back of the bus and drink out of their own "separate but equal" drinking fountains.
InsideTheHall
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 12:52 p.m.
Well, if he would acted like a mature adult to begin with there is no story. Dig deeper into his background, you will all be quite shocked. Come on A2.com do the heavy liffting.
KJMClark
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 12:41 p.m.
Is the misdemeanor "unlawfully remaining at a place of higher education" charge a state law, or local ordinance? Does the university have the authority to write it's own ordinances? Sometimes it seems like, "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the University of Michigan, and to the republic, ..."
trespass
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 1:46 p.m.
This is a state law that the UM lobbied for in 1970 when the Ann Arbor police would not arrest the Black Action Movement (BAM) strikers who were protesting the lack of minority admissions at UM. When the UM was given the authority to have its own police department in 1990 they began to enforce the 1931 trespass statute again. The difference between the statutes is that in order to be guilty of "willfully remaining on the premises of an institution of higher learning" you must be violating the properly promulgated rules of the institution. There are no lifetime bans. If you come back tomorrow and are no longer violating the rules, you are welcome back.
jcj
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 12:38 p.m.
"They need to do something else for us to arrest them the next time. Like be disruptive, or a possible suspect in some kind of crime." That scenario would apply to anyone. So what good would a trespass order be. I suspect Diane Brown meant they don't enforce all trespass orders.
David Cahill
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 12:35 p.m.
Rabhi is a much better poster child for trespass policy reform than that weird assistant attorney general. The fact that he was put on the list for protesting shows once again how both dumb and dangerous the present policy is. Imagine - a county commissioner banned from campus. Muahahahaaaa!
trespass
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 11:37 a.m.
Rahbi is a community leader and he should do more to help the rest of us get the University to change the policy rather than just appeal his own trespass warning.
trespass
Sun, Mar 13, 2011 : 11:34 a.m.
"They need to do something else for us to arrest them the next time. Like be disruptive, or a possible suspect in some kind of crime." That is not true for any other trespasser. Just ask the student who spent 30 days in jail just for attending class after getting a trespass order. Just ask the researcher who cannot attend seminars because she accused her former boss of misconduct and DPS gave her a trespass warning. A county commissioner may get special treatment by the University but Diane Brown is just making it up as she goes along on this one.