The New York Times published an editorial highlighting the ACLU report, "The War on Marijuana in Black and White."  The report looked at the numbers of arrests for marijuana possession nationwide and found there to be a vast disparity between the number of whites arrested compared to the number of blacks arrested. The report also found that blacks and whites use marijuana at roughly the same rate. Even more alarming is the racial disparity for pot arrests here in Illinois. The editorial reads:

Nationally, African-Americans are nearly four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession as whites. The disparity is even more pronounced in some states, including Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota, where African-Americans are about eight times as likely to be arrested. And in some counties around the country, blacks are 10, 15 or even 30 times as likely to be arrested.

Read the entire article.
Read the report.

The Huffington Post published an article featuring ACLU of Illinois plaintiff Lauren Grey who helped win a victory for transgender Illinoisans in the case of Grey v. Hasbrouck. This landmark lawsuit made it possible for transgender Illinoisans to be able to change the gender marker on their birth certificates without without undergoing unnecessary, costly and potentially dangerous sex reassignment surgery. Illinois is presently one of about half of all U.S. states to allow gender designation revisions to birth certificates -- a process that makes it possible for one to obtain driver's licenses and other official documents that reflect the individual's accurate gender.

Lauren Grey didn't think much about the gender recorded on her Illinois driver's license until she went to test-drive a new car. Although she had been living as a woman for months and easily obtained a license with her new name and a picture reflecting her feminine appearance, Grey's ID still identified her as male, puzzling the salesmen and prompting uncomfortable questions.

"They are like, `This doesn't match.' Then you have to go into the story: `I was born male, but now I'm not,'" said Grey, 38, a graphic designer living in suburban Chicago. "And they are like, `What does that mean?' It was super embarrassing." Similarly awkward conversations ensued when she tried to rent an apartment, went to bars or was taken out of airport security lines for inspection.

Read the rest of the article.

The ACLU of Illinois, collaborated with the Juvenile Justice Initiative (JJI) on House Bill 2404, which would allow 17 year olds charged with felonies not sibject to automatic trial in adult court to be treated as juveniles. There are several benefits to this long-sought policy change that will improve the outcomes of 17 year olds facing prosecution.

Raising the age would provide better public safety outcomes. Youth tried as adults are found to be 34% more likely to reoffend. Juvenile court jurisdiction benefits include mental health, drug treatment and community based services, which should be available to all 17 year olds. Moreover, an adult felony conviction poses a significant barrier to financial aid, housing and employment opportunities.

Read the letter from the ACLU of Illinois' Legislative Director Mary Dixon to Governor Pat Quinn, urging him to sign the bill into law.