News & Commentary

Two bills threatening to weaken the nation’s strongest biometric information privacy law will get a hearing on Tuesday in the Illinois House Judiciary – Civil Committee. The proposals, House Bill 559 and House Bill 560, effectively gut the meaning and enforcement of the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), adopted unanimously by both legislative chambers a little more than a decade ago. The effort to reverse the law comes after court decisions in recent years that have held large companies like Six Flags and Facebook accountable for collecting and using the biometric information of Illinois residents. 

Earlier today, officials from the DuPage County Jail confirmed to a federal court in Chicago that Christine Finnigan, a woman with the disability of opioid use disorder (OUD), will be provided her life-saving, prescribed medication for addiction treatment while she is at the DuPage County Jail. Critically, the officials tell the court that “Ms. Finnigan will continue receiving her methadone prescription for the duration of her incarceration so long as she does not develop any health issue which contraindicates continuing methadone treatment.” Ms. Finnigan was represented in this matter by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Illinois, Legal Action Center, and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center. In response to today’s news, Ms. Finnigan’s legal team issued the following statement:  “We are thrilled for Christine and pleased that the Jail intends to provide her prescribed, life-saving medication during this time. It will be a great relief to her. As we have said throughout our pursuit of this matter, the critical issue was protecting Christine’s life and recovery. We also want to recognize Christine’s bravery in bringing this suit. During the litigation, the Jail revealed that it had not provided methadone to a single non-pregnant person since 2016. We hope that the discussion around Christine’s case will encourage DuPage County officials to adopt permanent policies to allow any person with the disability of opioid use disorder to receive life-saving addiction treatment medication. This will save lives in Illinois.”

Today, Governor Pritzker signed HB 3653 into law. 

As reports circulate this weekend suggesting that Governor JB Pritzker will sign a major police and criminal justice reform measure into law on Monday, it is important to note that the bill advanced by the Illinois Black Caucus in the lame duck session of the General Assembly early this year enjoys wide public support. The high level of support is meaningful, given that many media outlets continue to refer to the bill’s provisions as “controversial” or worse, echoing the claims of a small number of police unions, law enforcement officials and politicians resistant to any reform.  But voters see this change as much needed and long overdue. 

The below statement can be attributed to Nusrat Choudhury, Legal Director, ACLU of Illinois:

The City of Chicago’s far-reaching surveillance camera system continues to expand and remains largely opaque 10 years after the release of a report first expressing alarm about cameras in the City. In February 2011, the ACLU of Illinois first issued Chicago’s Video Surveillance Cameras: A Pervasive and Unregulated Threat to Our Privacy. At the time of the report, the City’s surveillance camera system linked together around 10,000 private and public cameras. Today, the number of cameras in the system exceeds, by some estimates, more than 30,000.  

The below statement can be attributed to Ghirlandi Guidetti, Staff Attorney with the ACLU of Illinois: “Today’s Auditor General’s report reveals a sad but unsurprising truth: DCFS is not meeting the needs of LGBTQ youth in care as required by its own policy. We regularly hear from youth about the lack of basic respect for their identity as well as the challenges they face accessing affirming medical care. 

A woman diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD) is at risk of painful and life-threatening consequences if she is denied medically necessary, physician-prescribed methadone during an upcoming incarceration at DuPage County Jail. The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Illinois, Legal Action Center, and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center today filed a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against the DuPage County Sheriff on behalf of Christine Finnigan to ensure she’s provided with her prescribed medication for addiction treatment (also known as MAT) while she is serving time on a February 2016 DUI.

Earlier this evening, the Chicago Police Department filed a report with the federal court overseeing a consent decree aimed at improving systemic problems in CPD, problems that were detailed in a January 2017 Department of Justice comprehensive review of the Department.