The Chicago Tribune published an article about a plan that outlines areas of improvement to address substandard conditions within juvenile justice facilities throughout Illinois. The proposed remedial plan, released today and filed in a district court late last week, defines five problem areas within six facilities across the state. Those areas include education, mental health treatment, idleness, solitary confinement, community placement, and rights of LGBT youth who are detained. The plan comes as a result of a settlement between the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and detained youth represented by the ACLU of Illinois.

"Taken together, this plan provides a real opportunity for improving the lives of youths detained by the state of Illinois," said Adam Schwartz, senior legal counsel for the ACLU of Illinois, in a prepared statement. "The plan represents an enforceable mechanism for moving forward."

Read the entire article. Read more about the remedial plan.

An Illinois lawsuit, filed by a humiliated ex-wife, raises constitutional questions about privacy and free speech over what should be allowed to be posted on the internet. The wife claims her ex-husband caused her embarrassment and emotional harm by maliciously posting on the internet intimate pictures taken when they were still a couple. Illinois, and a number of other states across the country, are considering legislation to criminalize the tactics. The ACLU of Illinois is concerned that language of proposed Illinois legislation, as now written, could limit First Amendment rights:

"The Senate bill was written in a fashion that I would describe as overly broad,” said Ed Yohnka, the director of public policy and communications for the ACLU of Illinois. “Does that mean retweeting a particular Anthony Weiner picture or posting it to your Facebook page? Or if you’re on a weekend camping trip in high school and somebody moons a camera and you post that to your Instagram account? We would prefer a precise definition of the conducts that would lead to liability.”

Read the entire article.

The February 28^th unequivocal ruling by Federal Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman that Illinois’ current ban on the freedom to marry for same sex couples is unconstitutional has set off a statewide review at the county level. Cook Count Clerk David Orr’s office immediately began to issue marriage licenses without gender discrimination. Champaign County quickly did the same. The question, since the court ruled, has been whether other county clerks would continue to enforce a ban that a federal court has found to be unconstitutional.

Responding to a request for guidance from Macon County Clerk Stephen Bean, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan clearly stated that her office would defend any same-sex couple who brought suit because they were denied a marriage license anywhere in Illinois. In her publically released letter to Bean, Madigan maintained that:

“...[M]y office’s position is that current Illinois restrictions against same-sex marriage violate the equal protection rights that belong to all citizens under the United States Constitution,”

Read the article from The Chicago Sun-Times.