Michael J. Steinberg, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, will speak on "Fighting for Civil Liberties in Michigan" on Thursday, Nov. 29 at Northwestern Michigan College.

Steinberg will speak on ACLU cases in the news, including those involving religious freedom, illegal spying, and unlawful strip searches. He has served as the legal director of the ACLU of Michigan since 1997 and oversees all litigation throughout the state.

Steinberg earned a bachelor of arts degree with honors from Wesleyan University in 1983 and is a 1989 cum laude graduate of Wayne State University’s law school. Upon graduation, he clerked for then-Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Marilyn Kelly (now a Supreme Court justice). He then established his own private practice in Ann Arbor, where he specialized in civil rights litigation and civil and criminal appeals.

Steinberg, a former high school teacher and coach, has been selected by Harvard Law School as a public interest fellow for the 2007-08 school year.

The 7:30 p.m. presentation, scheduled in room 109 of Scholars Hall, is free and open to the public.