Illinois laws which mandate young offenders be charged as adults, if arrested for serious crimes, cause tremendous injustice and result in racial discrimination according to a recent study by the nonpartisan Juvenile Justice Initiative. (The ACLU of Illinois is a member of the Juvenile Justice Initiative Coalition.) The study underscores the need to revamp the state’s 32 year-old laws which limit judicial discretion and which, according to the study, perpetuate, rather than curb, life-long criminal activity by the young offenders caught in the law’s web of injustice. The new study verifies the ACLU of Illinois position that trying youth in adult court has significant negative effects on public safety. The study maintains that defendants who leave juvenile court for adult court lose their best opportunity at rehabilitation, often end in prison with adults and are more likely to be caught in a cycle of recidivism. Of the 257 cases ( from 2010-2012) reviewed in the study, 83 of the defendants who were sent to adult court were black, 16 percent were Hispanic; only one defendant was a non-minority. The most perturbing finding of the study showed that 54 percent of the juveniles were ultimately sentenced for a lesser crime than the one for which they were arrested; a crime infraction that would not have sent them to adult court in the first place. The General Assembly is considering legislation introduced by State Representative Elaine Nekritz to rescind the automatic transfer laws:

"It's putting a common sense process in to have a judge, rather than the General Assembly, make these decisions," said Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, the bill's sponsor. "The judge is looking at the circumstances of the individual, the circumstances of the crime."

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Writing in the Sun-Times, Cristal Thomas, deputy governor of Illinois, called on the Illinois Senate to pass House Bill 8. The bill would require employers in Illinois to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers, similar to those provided for workers with temporary disabilities. The ACLU of Illinois supports the legislation, sponsored by Representative Mary Flowers, which passed out of the Illinois House on April 10th.
Thomas writes:

The victims’ testimonials are heartbreaking. Yvette, a pregnant grocery clerk who miscarried and was fired when her boss demanded she do more heavy lifting. Guadalupe, a pregnant fast-food worker who was denied needed bathroom breaks, then fired. Hilda, a cashier who was denied the right to sit on a stool during her 8- to 10-hour shifts, because, as her boss explained, “You can’t get special treatment since men don’t get pregnant.”

These women represent a disturbing trend in workplaces across the nation. As more female employees comprise our workforce and expectant mothers stay on the job longer into their pregnancies, there are increasing reports of employers who refuse to accommodate these workers’ conditions.

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The Illinois House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation to protect the health and well-being of pregnant workers, recognizing that current state and federal laws fail to guarantee reasonable workplace accommodations for being pregnant. Sponsored by Rep. Mary Flowers and supported by the ACLU of Illinois, the bill would assure pregnant employees are granted simple, but health-protecting, accommodations that do not pose undue burdens on employers: more frequent bathroom and water breaks, the ability to have a place to sit, manual labor assistance, light duty assignments and schedule adjustments, post-partum time off, and access to a private breast-feeding area upon returning to work. None of these types of accommodations are legally available to pregnant workers under existing laws creating the need for legislative action.

It is established that pregnancy is not considered a disability under the ADA. As such, employers have no affirmative duty to provide “reasonable accommodations” (bathroom breaks, light duty, sitting areas, etc.) to their pregnant employees.

Furthermore, under the PDA, employers are mandated to provide pregnant workers with the same benefits as all other employees. While the PDA prohibits employers from discriminating against pregnant workers, there’s no affirmative duty for employers to accommodate pregnant employees.

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