News & Commentary

Last Friday, ACLU of Illinois Executive Director participated on a panel reviewing the implications of civil liberties for the recently-completed term of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Spoiler alert: not a lot of good news!)

The Chicago Sun Times editorial board weighed in today calling on Chicago Public Schools to reintroduce race as a factor when determining admissions to the City's select enrollment high schools. Recent data shows that the enrollment level of African American students has decreased since a long-time federal consent decree to assure racial integration of Chicago public schools was vacated by the courts several years ago.

ACLU of Illinois Communications and Public Policy Director Ed Yohnka recently appeared on local news station WICS-TV via Skype to discuss Illinois law enforcement agencies' use of cell phone tracking technology called "StingRays." The equipment, manufactured by Florida-based company Harris corp., essentially operates by mimicking a cell-phone tower in order to locate individual electronic devices. The ACLU of Illinois has been concerned about this type of technology for some time, and with recent efforts by Florida law enforcement to conceal how they are using StingRays, the concern has prompted WICS to file a FOIA request with Illinois State Police to investigate how the technology is being used in our state.

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” -George SantayanaThis week, the undergraduate and law studen

This Letter to the Editor appeared on the Chicago Tribune website on Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The law, it seems, has failed too many students in Illinois' public schools. According to reliable reports, more than half of Illinois students have been verbally harassed in school, while almost a quarter have been victims of physical harassment. This bullying—and the lack of meaningful policies to successfully prevent or address such behavior—turns school for too many youth from a safe place to learn and grow, into a nightmare to be feared and avoided. Sadly, bullying often targets students with learning disabilities or medical conditions that affect their appearance. And for victims, bullying’s not just emotionally harmful: it increases suicide risk and affects academic success.Part of the problem is that reporting bully

Cross-posted from The Chicago Tribune. 

Since the Illinois State Supreme Court struck down the state’s anti-eavesdropping law for being too broadly written it has been legal in Illinois to secretly record conversations without permission from either party. The Illinois Senate passed legislation, sponsored by Senator Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), which would establish new guidelines tailored to today’s cell phone technology and supporters believe the State House could take up the issue during the veto session. Ed Yohnka, ACLU of Illinois Director of Communications and Public Policy, wishes the old law had not been struck down but pointed out legislators should craft a bill that includes:

Cross-posted from The New York TimesBy Dorothy J. Samuels