Progress Illinois wrote a feature on the ACLU of Illinois’ marriage suit. The 25 couples represented in the combined ACLU Lambda Legal case marched in the Pride Parade this past Sunday, and say the ban on marriage puts them in a second class of citizens.

“Marriage is a common thing that everybody understands and I think it’s very important for our children to be able to say that their parents are married,” said Tanya Lazaro, who, with her partner Elizabeth “Liz” Matos, are lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

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The New York Times reported on the Supreme Courts ruling on SB 1070, the Arizona immigration law. The Court struck down three of the four measures of the statute, but kept the ‘show-me-your-papers’ mandate, saying that officers can ask citizens who they expect to be illegal aliens to produce their immigration papers. Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, is ready to fight this mandate because of fears that it will lead to racial profiling.

“The Supreme Court kicked the can down the road, opening the floodgates to racial profiling and years of litigation,” Mr. Romero said. “The constitutional sequel will be much more controversial, messy and costly.”

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The Chicago Sun Times reports that the City of Chicago’s City Council’s Committee on Public Safety approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. Exceptions, such as anyone under 17 without proper identification and anyone caught openly smoking on a school ground or park would be arrested, were made. The proposal will be voted on by the city council this week. Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, one of the supporters of the proposal, said it will allow for a better use of the police force’s time.

“This is going to free up man hours so we can get the benefit of the stop and the investigation. … When we stop people for small things, we end up doing a warrant check. They might be wanted for a murder. That’s how we’re gonna prevent another crime from happening. We’re getting the benefit of what we need to do as far as the interactions, without the residual downside of spending all the time processing and arrest that’s not gonna be prosecuted.”

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