The ACLU of Illinois submitted testimony to the House Judiciary Criminal Law Committee regarding House Bills 1519 and 1738 (Amendment 2) which would reinstate the death penalty in Illinois:

In order for the State of Illinois to take a life, the State must do so fairly, rationally and without the threat of taking an innocent life. There are insufficient safeguards in our criminal justice system to insure that this is how the law is carried out in Illinois. From 1977 to 2000, Illinois executed 12 inmates but freed 13 from Death Row. The 13 freed individuals had their convictions overturned and some were completely exonerated. In the 10 years since the Moratorium, seven more inmates have been released from Death Row – only Florida has released more exonerated defendants. The irrevocability of the death penalty counsels against accepting a system with a demonstrably significant rate of error. We cannot guarantee that our death penalty will not make a fatal mistake and take an innocent life.

Download the whole thing.

House Bill 1519:
Read the legislation | Track its status

House Bill 1738 – Amendment 2:
Read the legislation | Track its status

The ACLU of Illinois alongside Illinois Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) and other activists came together to stop a bill in the Illinois Senate last week that would have permitted adoption agencies with religious affiliations to discriminate against prospective parents, according to an article in www.nowingaychicago.com Monday.

“It was a nasty bill,” Steans said.

ACLU Legislative Director Mary Dixon was one of the activists that alerted Steans of the damaging bill, causing the lawmaker to forcefully block SB 1993 when it came up before the Illinois Senate Human Services Committee. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Shane Cultra (R-Onarga), lost on a 4-4 vote, with one member not voting.

“It was really disturbing,” Dixon said. “The goal was to codify discrimination into law.”

According to the article, agencies connected with religious groups frequently offer adoption and foster services, and the religious preferences of the biological mother, if known, are taken into consideration when children are placed into homes. Cultra's bill provided that an agency could choose to place children with parents deemed to “hold the same religious beliefs” as the agency, excluding others.

“That's religious discrimination,” Dixon said. “That's not allowed under our constitution.”

Executive Director Colleen Connell submitted written testimony to the House Agriculture Committee on Tuesday in opposition to House Bill 3156. She writes:

There can be no purpose in upending the existing system of regulation other than to seek to impose the same unconstitutional burdens on the fundamental right to terminate pregnancy that led the federal courts to enjoin the ASTC Act and regulations in Ragsdale v. Turnock. We urge you to let science dictate and avoid the unnecessary cost to the State of Illinois of further litigation about regulatory requirements long found to impose a substantial burden with no medical justifications. We urge you to vote NO on House Bill 3156.

Download a copy of the whole thing.