News & Commentary

The ACLU of Illinois has long been concerned about use of surveillance cameras by Chicago law enforcement - particularly the use of cameras with increasingly sophisticated technology, including the ability to zoom in and track an individual's movements. Senior Staff Attorney Adam Schwartz spoke with the Chicago Sun-Times about the installation of new red-light cameras with a 360 degree panning technology:

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The newly appointed Director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Bobbie Gregg, cites budget constraints, staff morale and continuity issues as significant challenges facing the department. Since 1991, the department has operated under a federal court consent decree designed to improve the care and services DCFS provides to children under its care. The terms of the consent decree, which is monitored by the ACLU of Illinois, established department operating standards, including caseload maximums for child abuse investigators. Benjamin Wolf, associate legal director of the ACLU of Illinois maintains that Gregg needs to immediately address the departments deteriorating level of operations:

U.S. Judge Matthew Kennelly approved a comprehensive remedial plan to address the issues first raised by the ACLU of Illinois in a 2012 lawsuit against the Department of Juvenile Justice and confirmed by a consent decree signed by both parties in December 2012. The plan establishes parameters and time tables under which the department needs to address issues of confinement, community placement, safety, and how it provides mental health and educational services. ACLU of Illinois staff attorney Lindsey Miller explained that the plan establishes enforceable rations between staff and incarcerated youth and mandates full-day education programs:

A survey by the Journal of American Medical Association, released this week, reveals that seven out of ten Americans support the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that employer sponsored health care packages include contraceptive coverage. Seven out of ten Americans clearly understand that contraceptive coverage is a critical health care issue for women.Yet, for the next few months, the country is debating a very real questio

Oklahoma City – In response to the botched execution of Clayton Lockett, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma has issued the below statements and is immediately calling for a full and open investigation into the execution. The ACLU of Oklahoma is also calling for an immediate moratorium on all executions pending the outcome of this investigation and for full and complete transparency regarding the execution process in Oklahoma.

Legislation now before the Illinois House of Representatives would give state judges the authority to determine whether or not to try juveniles as adults. Current Illinois laws allow prosecutors to automatically transfer juveniles, suspected of committing serious crimes, to adult court to face criminal charges. The ACLU of Illinois consistently maintains that trying youth in adult court has significant negative effects on public safety. The Daily Journal’s opinion piece by John Maki, of the John Howard Association, points out that the decision to charge a seventeen year old, accused of committing a violent crime, as an adult should be decided in court by a judge considering all the details of the case, rather than in the private offices of prosecutors. Maki sites studies which reveal racial disparities that stem from prosecutors’ application of automatic transfers. He argues that Illinois laws should be amended to give youth offenders the opportunity to:

Ten years ago in March, Lisa and I were first in line when Multnomah County issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples. We married immediately in our church, with our ministers, blessed with the presence of friends.Ten years ago in Novem

With over two decades of service to Latta, South Carolina openly-gay Police Chief Crystal Moore enjoyed a controversy-free record until a new mayor set out to fire her. Within months of taking office, Mayor Earl Bullard issued seven reprimands against Moore, all within the same day, and fired her. South Carolina has no laws against LGBT job discrimination. The ACLU across the country and the ACLU of Illinois advocates and litigates against LGBT discrimination and the destructive, cruel humiliation Police Chief Moore was subjected to by an ignorant boss.  What happened to Moore can happen anywhere without civil rights protections: