With over two decades of service to Latta, South Carolina openly-gay Police Chief Crystal Moore enjoyed a controversy-free record until a new mayor set out to fire her. Within months of taking office, Mayor Earl Bullard issued seven reprimands against Moore, all within the same day, and fired her. South Carolina has no laws against LGBT job discrimination. The ACLU across the country and the ACLU of Illinois advocates and litigates against LGBT discrimination and the destructive, cruel humiliation Police Chief Moore was subjected to by an ignorant boss.  What happened to Moore can happen anywhere without civil rights protections:

All it takes is a change in leadership, and any employer can suddenly take advantage of the lack of LGBT employment protections in their state. While some seem to think that the gay rights movement is mounting witch hunts against those it brands homophobic bigots, cases like Crystal Moore’s remind us that for most the battle remains one for simple equality.

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Take action: Tell your U.S. House Representative to co-sponsor ENDA.

 
 
 

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."

Read the article via The Republic.

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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