News & Commentary

In These Times spoke with ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Adam Schwartz about legislation the ACLU supports, Senate Bill 1753, which will place modest regulations on the use of Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) by Illinois law enforcement. ALPRs are cameras mounted on police cars which scan and record the license plates, and store the dates, times and GPS locations of every vehicle in its vicinity.

On February 18, Governor Rauner announced his intention to craft a state budget that protects our most “vulnerable” youth. To accomplish this goal, however, he seeks to eliminate all funding and services for a uniquely vulnerable population: foster youth ages 18 to 21. These are critical ages in development, and a period when adolescents need our support in preparing for a full and productive adulthood. The undersigned have long advocated for this vulnerable age group. Ending essential supports for this population is morally unconscionable and fiscally irresponsible. It also would violate Illinois' laws, federal and state court consent decrees, and accepted best practices.

With thousands of children in the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and terrifying documentation of mistreatment and neglect, U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Alonso approved an agreed interim plan presented by the Department and the ACLU of Illinois to help insure the safety and quality of care for wards of the state while longer-term reforms are pursued.

As part of an ongoing legal battle to reform the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS), a federal judge ordered an evaluation of agency facilities, the Chicago Tribune reports. Independent monitors will be sent into the most troubled facilities in order to protect the youth that are housed there.

In These Times has an ongoing investigative series called "We Surveil and Protect" that looks at the surveillance activities of the Chicago Police Department (CPD). This article highlights inconsistencies in the data released by the CPD regarding police use of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs). ALPRs are cameras mounted on the dashboards of police cars and are used to scan the license plates of every car in its vicinity, regardless of whether or not the driver is suspected of criminal activity. The data scanned by the ALPR are stored in a database, and can be shared with other law enforcement agencies across state lines. The power of the CPD to surveil citizens is completely unregulated, which is why the ACLU of Illinois has worked with State Senator Daniel Biss to draft a bill - Senate Bill 1753 - that would place modest regulations on the use of ALPRs in Illinois. In These Times reports:

I gave birth to my first child 8 weeks ago and took the bar exam last week. For a time, this grueling combination did not seem possible – and not because of the exhausting nature of both experiences. But thanks to the Illinois Bar Examiners, who granted me and three other nursing mothers the essential accommodations to pump breast milk for our babies during the exam, I now await the test results.I recently moved to Illinois

The Kankakee Daily Journal published an article about ACLU-drafted legislation, sponsored by State Senator Toi Hutchinson, that would protect crime victims from facing eviction. So-called "crime-free housing" and "nuisance" ordinances punish landlords and tenants in properties where repeated calls to police are made. Landlords can be faced with fines or can even be forced to evict tenants that have called the police in response to criminal activity. These ordinances adversely impact survivors of domestic violence who call the police to help protect them from their abusers. The Daily Journal included a quote from ACLU Attorney Amy Meek:

Phil Kadner of the Daily Southtown wrote an article  about the legislative effort to protect crime victims from being evicted under local ordinances. So-called "crime-free housing" or "nuisance" ordinances often require landlords to push tenants out of their homes if the police are contacted regarding alleged criminal activity at a property. Those most adversely impacted are survivors of domestic violence who are pushed out of their homes for calling the police for help against their abusers. The bill, drafted by the ACLU of Illinois, aims to prevent the enforcement of these ordinances and to enable tenants and landlords to sue if they are penalized for repeated calls to the police from their property. Phil Kadner spoke with the bill's sponsor, State Senator Toi Hutchinson: 

The Chicago Tribune talked to ACLU of Illinois Communications and Public Policy Director Ed Yohnka about the Real ID Act - a law which was passed in 2005 in light of 9/11. In an effort to combat terrorism by enforcing air travel restrictions, the Real ID Act requires state-issued identification cards to meet certain criteria. A key requirement mandated by the Real ID Act is birth certificate verification, which Illinois currently does not require. The article approximates that an estimated $3.75 million a year would be needed to implement birth certificate verification and to set up a database to store all of the information, which could be shared across state lines. The ACLU has opposed Real ID, citing a range of concerns including costly administrative burdens on state governments, its ineffectiveness against terrorism, increased security risks and threats to privacy. Ed Yohnka told the Chicago Tribune: