One of the main ways the ACLU of Illinois works to protect civil liberties and civil rights is through litigation. Litigation remains one of the fundamental tools with which our adept legal team fights for equality and civil rights throughout the state. This section of our website documents the cases we’re working on now and those we’ve handled in recent years.
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We represent Jaylan Butler, a Black college swimmer for Eastern Illinois University, who was held at gun point and arrested without justification by multiple law enforcement officers. When his swim team’s travel bus stopped near a rest area on the way home f
We have sued the Sheriffs of two Illinois counties, Ogle and Stephenson, for violating the TRUST Act. In 2017, Illinois enacted the TRUST Act, a measure that limits state and local law enforcement’s participation in federal immigration enforcement.
We are suing Circle K – the national convenience store chain – for firing Judi Brown, an African-American transgender woman. Soon after Ms. Brown started working at Circle K’s Bolingbrook store, her manager began asking her invasive and offensive questions, including about Ms.
Michael Dumiak and Christopher Simmons have been harassed, ticketed, and prosecuted by Downers Grove authorities when the men stood on a raised median strip seeking donations from people in vehicles stopped at the intersection of Butterfield and Finley roads.
Over a six-day period in May 2018, in “Operation Keep Safe” ICE arrested and detained more than 100 people across the Chicago area.
On June 21, 2018, the ACLU of Illinois filed a lawsuit against the City of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department, seeking to force the Chicago Police Department to turn over documents related to