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Home » E-newsletter » Archives » December 6, 2004
December 6, 2004 ACLU of Illinois E-News 12.06.04 ACLU of Illinois Asks FBI to Make "Spy Files" Public The ACLU of Illinois acted on behalf of several local religious and political organizations on December 2nd to file federal Freedom of Information Act request, seeking any information about the organizations gathered by the FBI as part of surveillance of the organizations. The organizations adn individuals upon whose behalf the ACLU is acting reflect a broad coaltion, including the local affiliates of legal organizations, groups committed to serving the Muslim and Arab population in Chicago, and local peace and justice coalitions. ACLU of Illinois Legal Director Harvey Grossman noted that the intelligence files sought "have been used to deny individuals government employment or disseminated in an effort to embarrass individuals engaged in advocacy against government." You can read more about the case by looking on-line at three stories (all require registration):Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/southsouthwest/chi-0412030209dec03,1,6174203.story ; The Associated Press, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-041202aclu,1,1546269.story ; and, the Chicago Sun Times, http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-aclu02.html. ACLU Case Against Department of Defense Continues to Receive Attention In the last edition of the E-news, we reported to you on a settlement the ACLU of Illinois reached with the Department of Defense, in which the Pentagon promised to end the practice of its units directly sponsoring Boy Scout troops, troops that require a religious affiliation for youth to participate. Direct sponsorship resulted in Department of Defense officials acting in their official capacity administering religious oaths to young participants. You can read a recent story about this settlement, from the Chicago Free Press, by going to http://www.chicagofreepress.com/news/index.html#scout. ACLU Town Hall Meeting on Marriage Equality Well-Received in Champaign On Thursday, December 2nd, the ACLU of Illinois sponsored the latest in a series of town hall meetings on same-sex marriage, programs titled Leave No Family Behind, in Champaign. The program was well-attended, approximately 100 persons, and generated a great deal of interest in the local media. The meeting was the lead story on the 10:00 p.m. local television news and the local NPR affilate did a full report. If you want to read a story on the meeting that appeared in the student newspaper, the Daily Illini, go to http://www.dailyillini.com/news/2004/12/03/News/SameSex.Couples.Discuss.Illinois.Marriage.Laws-820644.shtml. Radio Discussion Scheduled Featuring ACLU of Illinois Executive Director, Colleen Connell A local Chicago law firm has sent a memo to hundreds of school district, as part of their self-described effort to "save Christmas from the ACLU." The effort ignores a number of facts: this office has not brought legal action against a Chicago-area school district for a holiday celebration in many years and that there are hundreds of religiously-based organizations that meet each day in Chicago area public schools in a lawful and constitutional manner. The local law firm has aggressively marketed their efforts, leading to some media attention. Indeed, on Monday, December 13th, ACLU of Illinois Executive Director Colleen Connell will appear on WGN-AM radio's program, Extension 720, beginning at 9:00 p.m. to discuss the issue. We urge you to tune in and call in! Thinking about Early Holiday Shopping? How About an ACLU Membership? Know someone depressed about the election results? 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. |
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