News & Commentary

ACLU of Illinois legal director Harvey Grossman appeared on WBEZ's Morning Shift to discussed the recently released study examining health care in Illinois' prisons. The report, issued by a panel of court-appointed experts in the ACLU case Lippert v. Godinez, says that 60% of non-violent deaths in Illinois prisons show significant lapses in care. Listen to the segment below:

The Chicago Tribune spoke with ACLU of Illinois associate legal director Ben Wolf about the recently released study examining the state of health care for prisoners detained in Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) facilities. The report, issued by a panel of court-appointed experts, highlights that the majority of inmates' deaths result from "significant lapses in care" on the part of IDOC medical staff. The report is a result of a lawsuit that the ACLU of Illinois joined in 2013 to challenge the dysfunctional, mismanaged system that fails to adequately serve the nearly 50,000 IDOC prisoners. Wolf told the Tribune:

Salon spoke with ACLU of Illinois Reproductive Rights Project Director Lorie Chaiten about the Illinois law which allows health care providers to deny patients information based on religious objections. The ACLU is supporting legislation that would amend the Health Care Right of Conscience Act to ensure that patients get the information they need regardless of the religious affiliation of the provider. The bill will also require providers to inform patients of procedures they are unwilling to perform. The Salon article highlights the story of Angela, who was denied a tubal ligation during a c-section, and soon after, was refused access to birth control by her doctor, who had recently sold her practice to a Catholic system. Chaiten said:

The New York Times spoke with ACLU Senior Attorney Adam Schwartz on the recent federal court approval ending solitary confinement for juveniles detained in Illinois. The approval comes as part of ACLU litigation that seeks to improve conditions and services available to the young people confined at state-run juvenile justice facilities across Illinois.  Schwartz told the Times:

Just a few moments ago, the Illinois Senate (on a vote of 34-19) adopted Senate Bill 1564, an amendment to the state's Health Care Right of Conscience Act. The following can be attributed to Lorie Chaiten, Reproductive Rights Project Director of the ACLU of Illinois:

Children embody a moral concern. They’re burdened with society’s hope and conversely, its failure. Photos taken of American children in inhumane situations document the fact that our implicit promise to our children of a better tomorrow has not been kept. They call on us to honor that promise.Lewis W. Hine was among the first to use photography of children as

The Cook County State's Attorney's office announced that they will no longer prosecute low-level drug offenses, and will instead redirect those offenders to drug treatment, the Chicago Tribune reports. Citing the ACLU study "The War on Marijuana in Black and White," the Tribune noted Cook' County's high arrest rate for marijuana possession - one of the highest in the nation - and also acknowledged the racial bias in the rate of low-level drug arrests within the African-American community. The Tribune spoke with ACLU of Illinois Communications and Public Policy Director Ed Yohnka:

This article originally appeared in the Huff Post Chicago.

The Associated Press (via the Pantagraph) published an article about the bill (HB 3289) that aims to regulate the use of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) in Illinois. ALPRs are cameras mounted on police cars that are able to scan the license plate of every car that passes by. The system records the plate, and stores date, time and GPS location of each passing vehicle. ALPRs have the capability of enabling police to undertake widespread, systematic location surveillance, yet are currently unregulated in Illinois. A bill sponsored by State Representative Peter Breen would place modest regulations on the user of ALPRs needed to prevent abuse and protect the privacy of innocent motorists. The Associated Press spoke with ACLU of Illinois Communications and Public Policy Director Ed Yohnka: