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Home » E-newsletter » Archives » October 15, 2004
October 15, 2004 ACLU of Illinois E-News 10.15.04 ACLU of Illinois Asks Judge To Dismiss Eavesdropping Case in Champaign Defending the First Amendment right to "collect information regarding government's actions," the ACLU of Illinois filed a friend of the court brief on October 6th asking a state court in Champaign to dismiss criminal eavesdropping charges against a Champaign man who was arrested for videotaping police interactions with African Americans in that city as part of a documentary. The man, Patrick Thompson, had concerns about discriminatory law enforcement tactics being directed against the African American community in Champaign. Mr. Thompson was charged under the Illinois Eavesdropping law, which the ACLU of Illinois labeled an "abuse" of the law. To read more about the filing and the brief itself click http://www.aclu-il.org/news/press/000211.shtml. Normal Town Hall Meeting on Marriage Equality a Huge Success -- Next Two Events Scheduled In Springfield and Champaign More than 150 persons from across the Bloomington-Normal joined the ACLU of Illinois and our partners on Thursday, October 8th for a panel discussion on marriage equality titled, Leave No Family Behind. The panel was the second town hall gathering giving persons across Illinois an opportunity to hear firsthand about the real-life obstacles faced by gay families as a result of our current discriminatory marriage laws. Again in Normal, two courageous gay couples talked about the daily impact on their lives of being denied marriage benefits -- despite the fact that both couples had been together for more than two decades! If you want to get a sense of the discussion in Normal, you can listen to a report done by WGLT-FM reporter Charlie Schlenker in advance of the town hall meeting. To access the mp3 file, click http://www.aclu-il.org/news/normaldiscussion.mp3. The next two marriage equality town hall meetings on our schedule -- November 8th at the Brookens Auditorium on the campus of University of Illinois-Springfield beginning at 7:00 p.m. On December 2, we will be gathering at 7:00 p.m. at the Champaign Public Library, 505 South Randolph. Get the Popcorn -- It's Unconstitutional! You may have heard the national buzz about a new documentary, Unconstitutional, a documentary detailing the shocking way that the civil liberties of American citizens have been infringed upon, curtailed and rolled back since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The film specifically details the excesses of the USA PATRIOT Act. Now, you have a chance to see this new film. In Chicago, the film will be showing twice in the next several days at the Gene Siskel Film Center located at 164 North State Street in Chicago. On Friday, October 15th, the documentary will be shown at 8:15 p.m. and be followed by a question and answer session featuring the ACLU of Illinois. The documentary also will play at the Siskel Film Center on Wednesday, October 20 beginning at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $9.00. In Springfield, the ACLU Chapter is hosting a screening on Wednesday, October 27th, beginning at 12:00 noon at the Lincoln Library, located at Seventh and Capitol Streets in Springfield. ACLU of Illinois Legislative Director Mary Dixon will moderate a question and answer session following the documentary. New ACLU Advertisement Warns that "Big Brother" is Un-American The American Civil Liberties Union is launching a new advertisement to educate the public about the "Big Brother" provisions continained in Congressional legislation ostensibly intended to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. One of the targets of the new advertising campaign is Central Illinois Congressman Tim Johnson. To this end, the ACLU is sponsoring a full page advertisement in the Champaign News-Gazette warning about some of the provisions being portrayed as "intelligence reform." To view the ad, go to http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=16799&c=206 |
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