Rex Huppke reports about San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system's recent decision to shut down its cellular phone towers for several hours last week. The decision came in response to a protest that had been planned for Thursday in light of a fatal police shooting. Huppke spoke with the ACLU of Illinois Communications and Policy Director Ed Yohnka:

"I would say that the one thing that you don't want is for government to be able to shut down access to these communication platforms simply because the outcome might be embarrassing to governmental entities," he said. "If you're shutting it down in order to quell some violent outbreak, that's something that I think is a very narrow and fact-specific case that I think people of good will could argue about. The situation with BART, they were embarrassed by these protests. The notion that that embarrassment becomes the trigger for closing off dissension or protests, that's troubling."

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WILL-AM Radio 580 reports about Governor Pat Quinn's recent veto of a security bill that had passed unanimously in both houses. The bill (HB 1948), sponsored by State Rep.  Naomi Jakobsson, would require police agencies that utilize video surveillance to disclose information about the number of cameras used, as well as any privacy regulations, to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, and to post this information publicly online. The act of releasing this data would provide the public with critical information about video surveillance across Illinois. However, Gov. Quinn's decision to veto the bill was based on a concern over "security risks."
Rep. Jakobsson says,

"We just want the public to know how many there are, how many the state has, and I think when the governor said this is a matter of security, that’s really far reaching,” she said. “We’re not asking to identify where any of them are, he doesn’t want the department of corrections to have to disclose - we never asked them to disclose.”

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The Chicago Tribune reports about the delay in addressing racial disparities among consent searches performed by Illinois State troopers. Five years ago, a state panel was created to study racial profiling on the road, however they have yet to hold their first meeting. The ACLU of Illinois filed a complaint with the Department of Justice this year asking for an investigation.  Shortly thereafter, the Illinois Department of Transportation released their report that highlighted how drivers of color are approximately 3 times more likely to be asked for a consent search despite being less likely to have contraband as compared to white drivers. The oversight panel would look at how information about these consent searches is collected and ways to prevent racial profiling.

Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the Illinois ACLU, calls the oversight board a missed opportunity to make sure state laws and police policies are fair to all drivers.

“The fact that there hasn't been this board functioning in an independent fashion has really created an obstacle towards solutions,” he said.

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