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Home » E-newsletter » Archives » February 28, 2005
February 28, 2005 ACLU of Illinois E-News 2.28.05 ACLU of Illinois Members to Meet April 9th at Summit to Address Threats to Our Constitutional Values It isn't news to members of the American Civil Liberties Union that our constitutional values are under attack. Since the November elections, members have expressed their concerns to us about threats to reproductive freedom, efforts to undermine hard won victories in support of LGBT rights and proposals that would allow discrimination based on race, ethnicity or religion. Repeatedly, we have heard two questions: What can local members do to address these threats? and, How can we effectively communicate about our constitutional values in the current environment? Through a generous grant from the Libra Foundation, we have been able to arrange for An Emergency Summit to Discuss Attacks on our Constitution. The meeting is intended for all ACLU of Illinois members and other persons in Illinois interested in defending our constitutional values. The Emergency Summit will take place on Saturday, April 9, 2005, at the Hawthorn Suites and Conference Center (located at 101 Trade Centre Drive) in Champaign. The Emergency Summit will begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude by 3:00 p.m. For more information o n the event -- and to register -- please go to www.aclu-il.org/conference. The program for this event is very exciting -- with time for ACLU members from across Illinois to tell us about their concerns, priorities and local issues, time for members from several communities to gather and discuss practical solutions to local challenges, a dynamic discussion about how ACLU members can communicate more effectively about protecting our constitutional values and a detailed discussion about our efforts this year to fight the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act. We are pleased to have two special guests for the session on communicating more effectively: Kate Stewart, a nationally-recognized communications' consultant from the Washington-based firm Belden, Russenello and Stewart, and Tom Kacich, editorial page editor for the Champaign News Gazette. We truly hope you will join us for this exciting event and learn about the steps you can take to protect and defend the constitutional values we all cherish. Tell Illinois Members of Congress to Oppose Religious Discrimination The United States House of Representatives is scheduled to vote as early as this week on a bill that would further President Bush's faith-based program for government-funded religion. The bill would allow organizations that receive our tax dollars to discriminate against employees on the basis of their religion. You can read more about this legislation and send a free fax to your member of Congress by going to http://www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLiberty.cfm?ID=17427&c=29. The proposed legislation would jeopardize civil rights and religious freedom because it would roll back protection against discrimination or misuse of government funds by religious organizations. For the first time ever, it would allow religious organizations involved in federal job training programs to discriminate according to religion when hiring staff for these taxpayer-funded services. Non-profits -- whether religious or secular -- that provide taxpayer-funded services currently need to obey federal hiring guidelines. Under this proposal, religious non-profits would be able to hire individuals only from their particular religion to provide these taxpayer-funded services. For example, a highly qualified social worker might be rejected because she "wasn't the right kind of Christian" to work on a job training program. Make sure you speak out today on this issue -- many Illinois legislators are considered "targets" for this vote. Looking for a Great Meal on March 8th? If you are looking to have a good meal and support the ACLU of Illinois, please consider eating out on Tuesday, March 8th. On that day, restaurants across the State of Illinois will host Share a Meal with Community Shares. A portion of the revenue from selected restaurants across the State on that day will go to a number of worthy causes, including the ACLU of Illinois Roger Baldwin Foundation. For more information and to located a restaurant near you, please go to http://communitysharesillinois.org/shareameal/. |
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