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Home » E-newsletter » Archives » December 1, 2003
December 1, 2003 ACLU of Illinois E-News 12.1.03 Marching for Choice -- Can We Count on You? The American Civil Liberties Union is one of the many national organizations sponsoring the 2004 March for Freedom of Choice, scheduled to be held on the Mall in Washington on Sunday, April 25, 2004. The ACLU of Illinois currently is organizing a delegation of Illinois' citizens concerned about protecting women's health and reproductive freedom. We hope to arrange a special "organizing breakfast" on the Sunday morning of the March, with a program featuring members of the Illinois Congressional delegation. If you are interested in attending the March with the ACLU of Illinois, please let us know by emailing us at acluofillinois@aclu-il.org. ACLU Responds to Historic Massachusetts Decision on Same Sex Marriage The ACLU marked the historic November 18th decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court striking down that state's ban on same sex marriage as "a landmark decision" aimed at ending discrimination. Because of the Court's ruling, thousands of people in Massachusetts -- including police, firefighters and emergency medical workers -- now will be able to insure that they are not denied the same benefits as their heterosexual colleagues. You can read the full response by the ACLU by going here. Free Speech Must be Protected on University of Illinois Campus -- ACLU of Illinois For more than two years, the ACLU of Illinois has been involved in a dispute at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign campus involving the free speech rights of students and faculty at that campus. The matter arises from a campus-wide directive issued in March 2001 by then University of Illinois Chancellor Michael Aiken, a directive demanding that all students and faculty communication with prospective student-athletes be pre-cleared by the Athletic Department. The directive was aimed at stopping a group of students and faculty on campus who intended to contact prospective athletic recruits to make these high school students aware of the controversy concerning the use of the Chief Illiniwek symbol at sporting events. Despite a series of adverse rulings, the University continues to defend its actions. Its most recent defense was printed in the Champaign News Gazette, as part of an article discussing the decision by the local chapter of the professional organization supporting college professors to file a brief in the case supporting the ACLU of Illinois plaintiffs. FBI Surveillance of Protests Draws ACLU Rebuke On Sunday, November 23, 2003, the New York Times revealed a classified memorandum from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that provided local police officials detailed instructions on how to target and monitor the thousands of citizens who were engaging in legitimate First Amendment activity by protesting U.S. military action against Iraq. You can read the full ACLU response to this latest revelation by going here. |
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