Bonsitu Kitaba

Background

About Bonsitu Kitaba

I currently serve as the Deputy Legal Director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, a 100-year-old organization dedicated to protecting and expanding civil rights and civil liberties for everyone in the United States regardless of their identity or status. At the ACLU, I work on a range of cutting-edge civil rights cases including a class action lawsuit on behalf of Black homeowners in Detroit who were subjected to illegal tax assessments and forced out of their homes for taxes they should have never had to pay. I also litigated on behalf of Flint residents during the Flint Water Crisis and cemented an agreement with the city and State of Michigan to excavate and replace all lead pipes in the city. Most recently, I successfully litigated on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Michigan and its patients to stop Michigan’s archaic 1931 abortion ban from going back into effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned by the US Supreme Court. I am the lead attorney at the ACLU of Michigan working to protect access to the full spectrum of reproductive rights in the state constitution and in 2022, I co-drafted and helped pass a constitutional amendment enshrining the fundamental right to reproductive freedom in Michigan’s constitution. I also serves as an intermittent lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School where I taught a course on the intersection of race and surveillance technology in Detroit in 2021. I have also guest taught a class at Barnard College in New York City on the success of the Reproductive Freedom for All campaign in Michigan and successful litigation. Prior to joining the ACLU of Michigan, I was a commercial litigator at Dykema Gossett PLLC in Detroit where I started my legal career. My practice at Dykema focused on representing businesses and other entities in complex litigation matters involving contract law, product liability, business and commercial law. I am a graduate of Wayne State University Law School and the University of Toronto. A Canadian native, I now work and live in Michigan with my two sons and partner.