In May, Chicago will host the NATO summit. Many groups are planning to hold rallies and marches in the streets of Chicago during the summit. Observers expect thousands of demonstrators to come, and the City of Chicago has been working hard to prepare.

The ACLU of Illinois is preparing too. We want to be sure that everyone knows about their rights under the First Amendment, and how to protest safely and legally in the City of Chicago. To start, we’ve launched a new mobile website about the rights of demonstrators: rights.aclu-il.org, and prepared a document about protesting rights, available for download.

The ACLU of Illinois also hosting events in person and online to answer questions about freedom of expression in Chicago:

• Know Your Rights Forum

  Wednesday, April 25th, 6:30 pm
  Chicago Temple
  77 West Washington
  RSVP: action.aclu.org/knowyourrights

• Know Your Rights Webinar

  Thursday, April 26th, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
  RSVP for the event at bit.ly/kyrchicago.

• Know Your Rights Twitter Chat

  Wednesday, May 9th at 1 p.m.
  Follow and participate using the hashtag #kyr.
  If you do not have a twitter account, you will be able to follow at tweetchat.com/room/kyr.

As part of the AIDS at 30 series, the Windy City Times published a profile of former ACLU of Illinois attorney John Hammell. Hammell was the first lawyer brought on by the ACLU of Illinois to work exclusively on cases involving HIV/AIDS issues. He later moved on to become the LGBT rights project director. Both Colleen Connell, executive director, and Harvey Grossman, legal director, are quoted in the article offering their fondest memories of working with Hammell.

"He was a wonderful colleague and a really smart lawyer," Connell said. "John was the ultimate coalition builder. … He saw the connectivity of really so many of the issues that the ACLU worked on."

Hammell argued a number of precedent-setting cases including one that forced the Chicago Transit Authority to post AIDS-prevention ads on buses and trains; one that extended federal housing protection to HIV-infected patients; and one that declared a state law compelling HIV testing unconstitutional.

Read the whole thing.

The ACLU of Illinois' very own communications and public policy director, Ed Yohnka, wrote an article for the Huffington Post about Governor Pat Quinn's decision to close Tamms Supermax Prison. The downstate correctional facility is known for its tactic of solitary confinement, holding prisoners in cells for extended periods of time - sometimes for up to ten years. The nature of solitary confinement is the reason why costs were so much higher per prisoner, as compared to other correctional facilities in Illinois. Despite the fact that closing Tamms will reduce costs to taxpayers, and eliminate this type of cruel punishment, some are voicing concern over the closing.

Since the announcement by Governor Quinn that Tamms would be shuttered under his plan, some have (predictably) raised concerns, suggesting that Illinois residents might not be safe if the facility is closed. No evidence is offered for this suggestion, only dark inferences of some pending threat. There is a reason that these voices offer no evidence: It does not exist. Indeed, there is evidence from other states across the nation that prisoners who are held in solitary confinement actually have a higher rate of recidivism than those held in the general population. In other words, Tamms -- like other supermax facilities -- simply has not added to our public safety.

Read the whole article.