News & Commentary

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:

In These Times published an overview of current tactics being used by police forces in Illinois that have the power to monitor the everyday activity of innocent people. Along with stingrays and facial recognition technology, police officers across the state have been utilizing automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) to track the location and behavior of criminal suspects.

In an effort to reform services and care for children who are wards of the state of Illinois, independent monitors from the University of Illinois at Chicago's psychiatry department have begun their review of residential treatment centers operated by the Department of Child and Family Service (DCFS), as the result of a court-approved agreement in ACLU litigation against the agency, the Chicago Tribune reports. Investigative reports from earlier this year exposing cases of abuse and neglect within the facilities prompted the ACLU to go back to court to jump-start reforms. The ACLU of Illinois represents these children under a decades-long consent decree originally designed to improve the quality of services and to ensure the safety of children who are under DCFS care. The Chicago Tribune spoke with ACLU of Illinois associate legal director Ben Wolf:

Harmful legislation signed today by Governor Mike Pence of Indiana will allow business owners to refuse to follow anti-discrimination protections and other laws based on religious objections. In an opinion piece for the Chicago Tribune, Rex Huppke notes that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, now Indiana law, will most likely harm lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, as they are not protected under the state's anti-discrimination laws like they are in Illinois, where discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited. The ACLU of Indiana and the National ACLU had petitioned Governor Pence to veto the bill, but to no avail. The ACLU remains concerned about similar bills in other states that have been introduced. Huppke spoke with ACLU of Illinois Communications and Public Policy Director Ed Yohnka:

The release of the ACLU of Illinois report, "Stop and Frisk in Chicago," was met with an appropriate volume of media coverage, responding to the disturbing trends about the Chicago Police Department's use (and overuse) of stop-and-frisk tactics. The report found that:

Chicago often wears the title of “Second City.” Today we know that the City has become the nation’s leaders in one area – the use of “stop-and-frisk” by police. Yes, Chicago has replaced New York City for the greatest use of the tactic, after that City became notorious for the technique.

(This post was originally published by Pete Brook, and has been shared with his approval. Read his insightful essay about Try Youth As Youth here.)Currently on show at