The Austin Weekly News reports that an ACLU suit against the Chicago Police Department, filed with the Central Austin Neighborhood Association (CANA), has been reinstated by an appellate court. The case, which had been dismissed last year by a trial court, charges that 911 police response times are slower in African-American and Hispanic neighborhoods than in other sections of the city:

The ACLU says the unequal deployment of officers violates the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003 — the law makes it unlawful for government to provide services in a manner that has a disparate negative effect on any racial group.  The ACLU, via a press statement, called the decision a big win for all of Chicago's minority neighborhoods.

Read the rest.

The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) confessed to under reporting the number of children fatally lost because of neglect or abuse over the last five years. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a recent DCFS audit revealed 11 more children to date had died since 2009. Testifying before Illinois Senate hearings, DCFS acting Director Denise Gonzales attributed the under reporting due to tracking and reporting errors. For decades, the ACLU of Illinois has represented the interests of children in the care of DCFS and worked to reform the foster care system:

“There’s no excuse for the DCFS system not being able to count accurately the number of children who died,” said Benjamin S. Wolf, an American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois attorney who monitors DCFS under a federal court order. “It’s something we’re going to look at more closely.”

Read the article.

Tech giants, including Google, Facebook and Apple, have sent an open letter to President Barack Obama and Congress, calling for tighter controls on the collection and surveillance of personal data, Reuters reports (via The Chicago Tribune). In light of the cables leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the companies are led by a sense of urgency to call on government to reform electronic privacy laws.  The ACLU has advocated for the Electronic Communications Privacy Act -- a law that was enacted in 1986 -- to be updated to reflect today's growing online privacy concerns. The open letter states:

"The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual - rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It's time for a change."

Read the rest.