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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WBEZ Chicago Public Radio spoke with ACLU of Illinois lawyer Adam Schwartz about random drug testing for Illinois high school student athletes. A state law requiring the tests expired in June, and the Illinois High School Association is pushing to continue to require students interested in playing sports to sign a consent waiver.

"Our schools are teaching absolutely the wrong lesson by telling kids they've got to surrender their rights if they want to play a game of sports," Shwartz said.

Schools should do away with random drug testing and focus only on kids who are suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs, Shwartz said.

The ACLU of Illinois has previously opposed drug testing of Chicago Housing Authority residents and Chicago public employees and elected officials.

Read the whole article from WBEZ.

The Chicago Tribune reports that a Wisconsin federal appeals court ruled to end a ban on publicly funding hormone treatment for transgender prisoners. The ACLU of Illinois, along with the ACLU of Wisconsin, the National LGBT Rights Project and Lambda Legal sought to defend the rights of a group of transgender inmates who rely on hormone therapy to prevent severe health problems.

"Too often the medical needs of transgender persons are not treated as the serious health issues that they are," said ACLU attorney John Knight in a prepared statement. "We are glad that the appeals court has found that medical professionals, not the Wisconsin Legislature, should make medical decisions for inmates."

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