The Surveillance Camera Data Collection Act (House Bill 1948), which would require police agencies that own or have access to video surveillance cameras to disclose to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority the number of their cameras, and their privacy regulations, has passed the Illinois House in a 110-0 vote.

The bill would also require the Authority to post this information on its website. The regulations would extend to outdoor cameras (except for traffic cameras), and to mass transit cameras. The law does not seek information about the location of any cameras.

This bill would provide the public with critical information about video surveillance cameras in Illinois. Government transparency about the number of cameras would allow the public to make important town-to-town and year-to-year comparisons.

Dozens of government agencies across Illinois have installed thousands of video surveillance cameras in recent years, but very little information about these cameras has been released to the public.  The ACLU of Illinois recently released the first independent, comprehensive report of Chicago's surveillance camera system, calling for the City to adopt significant new safeguards to protect privacy.  The ACLU also called for a moratorium on the placement of new surveillance cameras in the City until a full review of the program and adoption of privacy protections has been completed.
 

In a story on the Today show this week, John Knight, Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & AIDS Project at the ACLU of Illinois, discussed the need for federal law to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The on-air segment discusses claims by an employee of the Rainbow Push Coalition, Rev. Jesse Jackson's civil rights organization, that the worker experienced discrimination in the workplace because of his sexual orientation.

Update as of April 18, 2011: Another web site, gaywrites.org, has covered the defeat of an anti-gay adoption bill.

An article on nowingaychicago.com highlights the defeat of an anti-gay adoption bill that would have weakened the civil unions law. The success came as the result of the hard work of activists such as Equality Illinois, The Civil Rights Agenda, the ACLU of Illinois, state Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) and longtime activist Rick Garcia who waged a fierce lobbying campaign against it.

“Illinois stands tall today,” said Harris, who was chief sponsor of the civil unions bill. “I think that once more Illinois has shown that we value equal justice under the law.”

The bill, an amendment to Illinois Senate Bill 1123 that was slipped in late April 11, would have allowed adoption agencies supported by state tax dollars to deny adoptions to gay and lesbian couples united by a civil union if such adoptions go against that agency's “sincerely held religious beliefs” regarding gays and lesbians.

The amendment was sponsored by Sen. David Koehler (D-Pekin), who was chief Senate sponsor of the civil unions bill that passed last fall. Koehler said the adoption amendment was to fulfill a pledge he made to some senators during the civil unions debate that he would support additional legislation to address concerns they had about the effect civil unions would have on religious groups.