News & Commentary

A week ago, we watched in horror as an angry mob attacked our US Capitol, killing a police officer and threatening the lives of elected members of Congress and the Vice President of the United States. The assault was an orchestrated effort to disrupt the certification of the votes in the Electoral College, a process established by the Constitution and federal law that stands at the center of the peaceful transfer of power, seeking to overturn the will of the American people as expressed in the November 2020 election. 

The following statement can be attributed to Khadine Bennett, Advocacy and Intergovernmental Affairs Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois:

As legislators prepare to consider much-needed legislation to reform policing in Illinois, new polling released today shows that 9 out of 10 (91%) Illinois voters are strongly supportive of legislative efforts that hold police accountable for misconduct.

Since the 1970’s, the steep increase in Illinois’ incarcerated population has been driven primarily not by any rise in crime, but by the drastic escalation in the length of sentences imposed by elected officials. As a result, more people spend more of their lives incarcerated than at any point in our state’s history.

Contact Tracing works backwards from someone testing positive for COVID-19 to identify anyone they may have come in contact with, possibly exposing them to the disease.

Right now, mandatory minimum sentencing laws are extremely punitive to people in Illinois and routinely deny judges in our state the flexibility to craft individualized sentences. Even a man convicted of a nonviolent crime like selling drugs can be required to spend the rest of his life in prison, not because the judge determined that was a fair sentence, but because of a law passed by legislators who knew nothing about the circumstances of the case or his potential for rehabilitation.

Kate Holt, a Springfield woman, filed a complaint last week charging that the state’s capitol is violating state law by denying insurance coverage for physician-directed care for employees who are transgender. The charge recounts how Ms. Holt was denied coverage for medication prescribed by her physician - medication covered for other employees who are not transgender - after she was employed by the City of Springfield beginning in February 2020. The denial is a clear violation of Illinois’ Human Rights Act, according to the charge. 

Illinois still sends too many people to prison - and gives too many people felony records that follow them for life - for crimes that are often just the symptoms of poverty, addiction, and mental illness. Like a young woman in Chicago, who had her dreams of a career in medicine dashed after pleading guilty to simple drug possession. Or a teenager facing the prospect of prison after being caught stealing a winter coat from a Target store.

Tools like Amazon Ring’s doorbell system are often touted as a solution to safety concerns. But the reality hiding behind this seemingly simple tool reveals a much darker, deeper, and growing network that uses our privacy as currency.