High Noon in the Senate on the Patriot Act


Earlier this week, the House of Representatives adopted a measure that renews parts of the USA PATRIOT Act set to expire on December 31st. Despite protestations from Congressional leaders and Bush Administration officials, the measure does not offer any real reform of the PATRIOT Act. Now the battle moves to the Senate, where a bi-partisan group of Senators have announced their intention to block the measure, including the use of a filibuster. Our own Senator Dick Durbin is among those taking up this fight. If you want to keep posted on developments in the debate over PATRIOT Act renewal, you can log onto the ACLU's PATRIOT Act blog at http://blog.reformthepatriotact.org/. If you are wondering about the Illinois Delegation to the House, here is how they voted on the PATRIOT Act renewal: Voting Yes: Dan Lipinski, Rahm Emanuel, Henry Hyde, Melissa Bean, Mark Kirk, Jerry Weller, Judy Biggert, Dennis Hastert and John Shimkus; Voting NO: Bobby Rush, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Luis Guitierrez, Danny Davis, Jan Schakowsky, Jerry Costello, Tim Johnson, Don Manzullo, Ray LaHood and Lane Evans. We should "thank" those members who voted NO and "spank" those members who voted YES!



ACLU Continues to Work On Behalf of Children at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center


The ACLU of Illinois continues to work on behalf of the juveniles detained at the Cook County Temporary Detention Center. In November, the ACLU asked a federal judge in Chicago to appoint a manager that would be responsible for developing and overseeing implementation of reforms at the facility - reforms in accordance with an agreement reached between the County and the ACLU three years ago. This week, the Chicago Tribune again discussed allegations of abuse at the facility. You can read that article at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0512150213dec15,1,4350367.story?coll=chi-news-hed.



SAVE THE DATE - 2006 ACLU of Illinois Membership Summit in the Works


The ACLU of Illinois will be hosting a special membership Summit on April 22, 2006 in Champaign. More details will follow, but stay tuned. The event builds on our successful Emergency Summit held last year that gathered together more than 300 members from more than 75 communities. You will not want to miss the 2006 event!



The Clock is Ticking!


Still looking for that last-minute holiday gift for the "liberal who has everything"? We have a suggestion. 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/.



Happy New Year!


This is the last edition of the E-newsletter for 2005. It has been a very successful year - with lots of positive developments for ACLU issues in the courts and in the state legislature. We are acutely aware that this work is made possible by the support - financial and advocacy support - of people such as you. We are grateful for your time, your attention and your financial contributions to our work. We wish you and your family a Happy Holiday and look forward to a full year of work in 2006.