According to The Daily Beast, closing Guantanamo may finally become a reality. Congressional momentum, fed by operating-cost realities, began to rally with Senate hearings in late July, chaired by a frustrated Senator Richard Durbin (D-Il).  Since then, tangible legislative action has been spurred by a focused executive branch push, coordinated by President Obama himself. The ACLU, which has persistently called on Congress and the Administration to close the prison, applauds the momentum:

“It’s as if the president finally decided to flip the on-switch and the White House and Defense Department got up and running to work towards closing Guantanamo,” says Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union. “And it paid off, with a big Senate vote supporting easing some of the transfer restrictions.”

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The Washington Post reports an internet petition, demanding modernization of electronic privacy laws, has generated enough signatures to require a response from the Administration. Generated by a coalition, including the ACLU, the petition was built as a public out-cry against the growing evidence of unfettered, and unregulated, government-agency spying on everyday internet use by Americans. The petition calls for updating the Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA).

The law, which was written in 1986, and long before Gmail and Facebook, allows the seizing of e-mail and other digital communications without a warrant. Critics say it doesn't provide enough privacy protections for online communications.

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As we near the end of 2013, we have much to celebrate – incredible progress in fights to protect civil liberties in Illinois this year. Just this year, the ACLU of Illinois:

• Reached agreement with the state to reform Illinois’ troubled and inadequate juvenile detention centers, ensuring that youth detained by the state are no longer held in dangerous and unlawful conditions and are provided the educational, mental health and rehabilitative services to which they are entitled;

• Responded to Illinois’ harmful parental notice of abortion law with the massive judicial bypass project hotline – connecting young women seeking abortions with information about the law and free attorneys should they need them;

• Limited the use of drone surveillance technology by law enforcement in Illinois with the most comprehensive legislation in the nation;

• Brought the freedom to marry to Illinois through a massive campaign of legislative outreach, litigation and community engagement;

• Passed legislation ensuring that Illinois students receive comprehensive age-appropriate and medically accurate information in their sexual health education courses; and

• Won the right to continue our legal challenge against Chicago’s racially inequitable police deployment system.

None of these victories, none of our progress, would have been possible without you. Thank you for keeping our organization strong, and for answering when we call.

In 2014, we will be just as busy – protecting children in the care of DCFS, fighting attacks on reproductive rights in the legislature, and advancing protections for our electronic and digital privacy.

Are you with us? Let the world know on facebook and twitter.

Thank you for all your work in 2013. Have a wonderful holiday – and join us in 2014 as we continue the fight to protect and defend the Constitution.