News & Commentary

In advance of today’s campaign rally featuring Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump at the UIC Pavilion, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois today sent a letter this morning to UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis urging the school to minimize the likelihood of civil liberties violations at today’s rally.

The criminal justice system is broken and in urgent need of reform, according to a strong bi-partisan majority of Illinois voters from across the State. Moreover, Illinois voters want the legislature to act immediately to take steps to reduce the number of people incarcerated, and are willing to support wide-ranging and dramatic reforms to address the problems in the system.

There’s no evidence that oversight of police causes violent crime to increase

Roger Pascal, the long-time and beloved General Counsel of the ACLU of Illinois, died over the weekend from cancer.

On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and our client and her family, I want to express our deep appreciation for all the people who came out and demonstrated support for Student A at the District 211 Board meeting this week. We are so grateful for the overwhelming support, and the many, eloquent voices who spoke up for her, stating clearly that this teenage girl should not be denied access to the locker room simply because she in transgender.

Earlier this week, the ACLU of Illinois urged Governor Rauner to re-think his plan to ban Syrian refugees who are fleeing the brutality of ISIS, given the serious legal ramifications of such a ban. ACLU of Illinois Board member Shermin Kruse provides this compelling first-hand account of why the U.S. must continue to welcome refugees. My introduction to religious oppression and bloody conflict came early in life. I

This afternoon, a Cook County Circuit Court will hear argument in a case seeking the release of video recorded by a Chicago police dashboard camera, video that shows the shooting death of Chicago teen Laquan McDonald.  The video has been the subject of wide discussion and speculation, including vivid descriptions of the video’s contents in the media. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois today issued the following statement regarding this matter. 

The ACLU represents the family of a female student denied access to the locker room at her high school because she is transgender. Recently the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights found that the school was violating the girl’s federally-protected rights. The family has not spoken about this case, seeking to protect their family’s privacy. The mother of the student, however, shared this statement with the ACLU. We are pleased to share it with you. 

This letter to the editor appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday, November 10.