The Chicago Sun-Times has an editorial today about the use of surveillance drones nationwide, and local efforts to place modest limits on their use by law enforcement. There were a whopping 96 bills related to drone surveillance in 42 states that came up this year alone. Illinois was one of eight states to pass drone regulation legislation -- a bill that was signed by Governor Pat Quinn this summer. Already, lawmakers are looking ahead to prepare for the next step in protecting our rights to privacy as surveillance technology advances.

State Sen. Dan Biss, D-Evanston, who was chief Senate sponsor of last spring’s drone bill, said he is planning to offer similar legislation to regulate private drones, along with measures to govern how cellphone and GPS tracking data is used. The rest of the Legislature should join him in getting the job done.

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An article in The Chicago Tribune on Sunday rehashes the chain of events that happened leading up to the passage of the marriage bill last Tuesday. Once the bill is signed by Governor Quinn later this month, same-sex couples will be able to legally wed in Illinois beginning in June of next year. The bill's sponsors were unsure of whether or not they had enough votes to win when the bill was called, as there were a handful of legislators on the fence.

"Big, sweeping social issues usually don't pass in Illinois within a year. This is not the way the process usually works," said Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. "So the 'antis' better get a better strategy going forward, because this one didn't work."

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The Windy City Times covered yesterdays debate and vote to pass the marriage bill (SB 10) which will permit the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in Illinois. The ACLU of Illinois is proud to have partnered with the Illinois Unites for Marriage campaign and is grateful to the bill sponsors, Representative Greg Harris and Senator Heather Steans for their tireless work to pass the bill in both chambers. Thank the bill sponsors now!

Before the vote was called, Harris said that the political landscape had changed since the spring, given the U.S. Supreme Court's decision striking many of the tenets of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Since the decision came down, Harris said, LGBT Illinoisans had moved "from a second class to a third class status," since marriage rights were now available in the eyes of the federal government. If couples get married out of the state "they lose rights when they return to Illinois," Harris said.

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