Once again, the Chicago Tribune reports that the number of child abuse and neglect related deaths in Chicago continues to be high, only this time, the numbers may actually be the highest they have ever been. For decades, the ACLU of Illinois has monitored the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) as a result of a consent decree aimed to improve the care and services for children in its custody. The consent decree outlined a limit to the number of cases a DCFS social worker can have, so that they are able to fully accommodate new child abuse and neglect cases. DCFS states that the new numbers may not be accurate due to the efficacy of their data collection process. The Chicago Tribune spoke with ACLU of Illinois' Ben Wolf: 

Benjamin Wolf, assistant legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said there's "no excuse" for a child welfare system not accurately tracking and disclosing such important records.

"I think the department has suffered from a revolving door of leadership in recent years," said Wolf, who monitors DCFS under a federal consent decree. "It remains a problem."

Read the entire article.

ACLU of Illinois senior staff counsel Adam Schwartz joined State Senator Daniel Biss and several privacy experts at the Skokie Public Library for a forum entitled "Rethinking Privacy in a Digital Age."  The event coincided with the signing of the location tracking bill, a key ACLU legislative priority which was sponsored by Senator Biss. Additionally, the ACLU of Illinois has worked with Biss to pass measures that would place sensible regulations on the use of surveillance drones by law enforcement and also privately, by individuals. On the issue of these new technologies, Schwartz stated:

“When we raise these concerns,” he said, “it does not make us Luddites. The technologies that are transforming our society in radical ways that are unimaginable and accelerating our speed have the tremendous potential to make us more free. The Internet is unparalleled in empowering ordinary people to communicate with their fellow citizens.”

Schwartz said digital devices are an important tool to capture government misconduct when we see it as well.

“But the future is unwritten,” he said, “and what we need now is to put in place the safeguards that will ensure, as these technologies continue to transform us, that they’re transforming society for the good and not subjecting us to an Orwellian tyrannical nightmare.”

Read the article from the Skokie Review.