Back to Court on the Juvenile Detention Center



After nearly three years of frustrating efforts to get Cook County to make necessary reforms at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, the ACLU of Illinois went back to court last week to ensure changes that will protect the health and safety of the young people detained at the facility. A series of media reports over the past several months - and the reports of the court-appointed monitors released last month - demonstrate that juveniles at JTDC continue to be subject to capricious and harsh discipline, including the use of inappropriate physical restraint by adult staff on the young people. The ACLU of Illinois has asked a federal district court judge to appoint a manager - a professional with experience in a juvenile justice detention center - to develop a plan to reform operations at the JTDC and then implement those changes. You can read more about our request at www.aclu-il.org. On Thursday, November 10th, U.S. District Court Judge John Nordberg ordered briefing on this request and scheduled a hearing on the matter for January 11th. You can read more about the court's actions in a story that appeared in the Chicago Sun Times at http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-juvie11.html.



Tell Congress to Stop Torture



In recent days, the national media has focused on efforts in Congress to stop government torture and abuse of individuals detained by the U.S. The Senate voted in a landslide - 90-9 - to support an amendment offered by Senator John McCain that specifically bars government torture and abuse. Now, the issue moves to the U.S. House of Representatives. There is still time to weigh in with your representative in the House! Got to http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=t6qCdmW5_6tfWsA69ucopA.



Postcards from Buster to Visit Oak Park



As many parents of young children no doubt know, the program Postcards from Buster highlights the lives of real-life children. The show follows cartoon rabbit Buster Baxter as he travels through North America. An episode of the program titled "Sugartime!" explores how maple sugar is made on a Vermont farm. One of the families Buster meets on this trip is a lesbian couple and their daughter. The episode was scheduled to air nationally in February 2005 until Margaret Spellings, U.S. Secretary of Education, issued a written warning to publicly-funded PBS against distributing this episode, suggesting that "many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in this episode." Many PBS affiliates, including Chicago's WTTW Channel 11, broadcast the episode in spite of this warning, though the majority decided not to air the program. On Saturday, December 10th, beginning at 10:00 a.m., the ACLU of Illinois is joining with the Human Rights Campaign and others to host a free screening and discussion of this important episode. The event will take place at Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple, located at 875 Lake Street in Oak Park. If you are interested in attending, you can get more information from Carrie Maxwell at cemaxwell@yahoo.com.



For the Civil Libertarian Who Has Everything



We don't wish to alarm our readers, but next week is Thanksgiving! You know what that means? The New Year is just around the corner. In the "fifteen minutes" between now and January 1st, you will most likely be thinking about what to get for those "hard to shop for" friends, family members and loved ones. Why not get them a membership in the ACLU? It is the perfect gift - it is affordable, it is lasting (actually, it helps preserve America's constitutional values), and it makes you as the gift giver feel just as good as the recipient. If you want to share the Gift of Liberty with your family and friends, go to http://www.aclu-il.org/gift/.