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Home » E-newsletter » Archives » October 29, 2004
October 29, 2004 ACLU of Illinois E-News 10.29.04 As Election Nears Media Concentrates on Ballot Issues in Illinois, Beyond As the days count down to the 2004 Presidential election, media across the nation have been looking at the kind of voting equipment to be used next Tuesday. In Illinois, a number of media outlets are examining the continued use of punch card ballots in Cook County, Chicago and a number of jurisdictions across Illinois -- a punch card system that resulted in a high error rate in the 2000 general election. Voting officials across Illinios have committed to replacing the punch card system with more effective technologies before the March 2005 primary election as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Illinois. You can read about that settlement by going to http://www.aclu-il.org/news/press/000095.shtml. In addition, ACLU of Illinois Legal Director Harvey Grossman is part of a story on voting mechanisms in Chicago set to air on the 9:00 p.m. news broadcast on WGN Channel 9 this Sunday, October 31st. Dr. Richard Ragsdale, Physician and Champion of Women's Safety and Health, Dies at 69 One of Illinois' most prominent champions for women's rights and women's health died on October 23rd in Rockford. Dr. Richard Ragsdale worked for more than three decades at the Northern Illinois Women's Center, the only abortion provider in the Northwest area of Illinois. Dr. Ragsdale also was a plaintiff in an ACLU of Illinois case that helped protect women's access to abortion services in the State. Colleen Connell, Executive Director of the ACLU (who represented Dr. Ragsdale as the then-Reproductive Rights Project Director) was quoted in the Rockford Register Star remembering Dr. Ragsdale as "an excellent physician who spent at least 30 years putting women's safety and health adn well-being above his own." Intelligence Reform Cloaks Dangerous Anti-Immigrant Legislation A House-Senate Conference Committee has been meeting over the past several days to hammer out differences between House and Senate bills that are designed to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and reform our nation's intelligence gathering system. The bill passed in the House contained a number of anti-immigration measure, including the expansion of the ability for government to deport people without a hearing or to deport individuals to nation's where they might be abused or tortured. It still is not too late to let your members of congress hear from you on these issues by going to http://www.aclu.org/ImmigrantsRights/ImmigrantsRights.cfm?ID=1684%202&c=22. Thinking about Early Holiday Shopping? How About an ACLU Membership? We know that this week is Halloween, but some of you may be thinking about holiday gifts for family members and loved ones -- how about the "gift of liberty?" The ACLU of Illinois is offering a special gift membership that may be perfect of those "hard to buy for" persons on your holiday list. To learn more, go to http://www.aclu-il.org/membership/gift.shtml. Special Program Celebrating Civil Rights Set for Chicago Famed Chicago Historian Dr. Timuel Black is set to headline a special panel examining personal histories and remembrances from those involved in the civil rights movement in our nation. The program also features Judge Edward Washington, Linda Crane from John Marshall Law School, former Cook County Public Defender Rita Fry, and local weatherman Jim Tilmon. The program is scheduled for 12:15 -1:30 p.m. on Friday, November 19th at the Chicago Historical Society in downtown Chicago. For more information, please call 312/744-6630. |
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