SB 3266 – Public Act 96-0952

Sponsored by Senator Lightford, SB 3266 defines bullying, requires school districts and non-public, non-sectarian elementary or secondary schools to create and maintain policies on bullying and make suitable provisions for instruction in gang resistance and education training. An initiative of the Safe Schools Alliance, the ACLU of Illinois assisted in its passage.

Read the legislation.

Over the past few years, the ACLU of Illinois has received several complaints from persons across Illinois about local laws that limited the time that they are able to post political signs in their own yards. In many instances, the ACLU of Illinois was able to convince local authorities to change the most restrictive policies, fixing the problem one small community at a time was an inefficient manner to assure free speech.

We worked with the legislature, asking members of the General Assembly to stop municipalities from setting any time limits on yard signs - since the desire to express views about political issues does not correspond precisely to an electoral calendar. We did a fact sheet on the issue that we shared with legislature.

Last week, the Governor signed the bill we'd sought and in the press release on the bill signing - gave a "shout out" to the ACLU of Illinois, quoting our assertion that "yard signs are a traditional, effective and protected way for home owners to communicate with their neighbors and passerby about political elections and public issues."