News & Commentary

The Chicago Tribune published an article about a plan that outlines areas of improvement to address substandard conditions within juvenile justice facilities throughout Illinois. The proposed remedial plan, released today and filed in a district court late last week, defines five problem areas within six facilities across the state. Those areas include education, mental health treatment, idleness, solitary confinement, community placement, and rights of LGBT youth who are detained. The plan comes as a result of a settlement between the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and detained youth represented by the ACLU of Illinois.

An Illinois lawsuit, filed by a humiliated ex-wife, raises constitutional questions about privacy and free speech over what should be allowed to be posted on the internet. The wife claims her ex-husband caused her embarrassment and emotional harm by maliciously posting on the internet intimate pictures taken when they were still a couple. Illinois, and a number of other states across the country, are considering legislation to criminalize the tactics. The ACLU of Illinois is concerned that language of proposed Illinois legislation, as now written, could limit First Amendment rights:

The February 28th unequivocal ruling by Federal Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman that Illinois’ current ban on the freedom to marry for same sex couples is unconstitutional has set off a statewide review at the county level. Cook Count Clerk David Orr’s office immediately began to issue marriage licenses without gender discrimination. Champaign County quickly did the same. The question, since the court ruled, has been whether other county clerks would continue to enforce a ban that a federal court has found to be unconstitutional.

Two hundred and fifty marriage licenses were issued to same sex couples in the week immediately following the ACLU of Illinois and Lambda’s successful federal court petition which led to Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman’s ruling granting marriage equality in Cook County. Marriage licenses application numbers, released by Cook County Clerk David Orr, for the week of February 21 through the 28, show the divergence of professional backgrounds of the applicants as well as a breakdown by gender and residency. More than half of the same sex applicants granted licenses live in Chicago or in one of 55 suburban communities. A dozen couples live in other states including Kentucky, South Carolina and Texas.

Quad Cities Channel 6 TV asked its viewers their reaction to legislation now working its way through the Illinois General Assembly that would criminalize posting, on the internet, sexual images of a former intimate partner. Sponsored by State Senator Michael Hastings (D-OrlandPark) the bill recently passed the Illinois Senate and now awaits House action. It calls for a possible three year prison sentence and a $25,000 fine upon conviction. Comments from Channel 6 viewers focused on the harshness of the prison sentence. Channel 6 also reported that critics of the bill worried that its language was unintentionally too broad and could lead to misapplication if it becomes law as it is now written. Ed Yohnka, ACLU of Illinois Executive Director of Communications, suggested that the language should be redrafted because as currently written it could be used for other purposes:

The destructive impact, at exorbitant fiscal and social costs, of prison solitary confinement was the focus of recent Senate Subcommittee hearings chaired by Senate Richard Durbin (D-IL.).  Since 2010, when the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights first held hearings which exposed the emotional toll of prison solitary confinement, Senator Durbin has called for strict limits on its use by prison authorities. At this week’s hearings he firmly reiterated that solitary confinement is "a human rights issue we can't ignore."  On “All Things Considered,” NPR Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson highlights the key issues raised during expert testimony before the committee and notes that:

The ACLU of Illinois is  saddened to learn of the death of Challis Gibbs just weeks after marrying her partner of 21 years, Elvie Jordan. The Gibbs-Jordan marriage was expedited last December by Federal Judge Sharon Coleman’s order granting early marriage licenses to same-sex couples, who because of a terminal illness, could not wait until June to wed when the state’s new marriage equality law to goes into effect.  The case, represented by the ACLU of Illinois and Lambda, established a simple process for LGBT partners to obtain a marriage license in Cook County and wed immediately if one of the couple was suffering from a life threatening disease.  That breakthrough was followed in February by a subsequent decision by Judge Coleman which nullified the state’s old but still enforced marriage discrimination laws, thereby immediately extending marriage equality to all same sex couples obtaining marriage licenses in Cook County.Read more in The Windy City Times.

Same-sex couples may now obtain a marriage license from the Cook County Clerk, as a result of a federal court ruling today. The ACLU of Illinois and Lambda legal brought the case before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman to challenge Illinois' current ban on the freedom to marry, so that couples would not have to wait any longer. While the ruling only applies to the Cook County Clerk, the ACLU of Illinois believes the ruling should apply to all of Illinois. The Chicago Tribune spoke with ACLU of Illinois LGBT Project Director John Knight:

Legislatures across the nation, including here in Illinois, are considering proposals to address the practice of "revenge porn," where a former partner uploads intimate photos to a website designed to host such images and video.  While the ACLU abhors this practice, we are concerned that some language in these laws go too far.   In particular, free  speech concerns over language in an anti-revenge porn  Illinois State Senate bill remain after the legislation moved out of committee and onto the Senate floor for consideration. State Senator Michael Hastings, the bill’s sponsor, and personal-story testimony presented at committee hearings, advocated for passage of the bill as a means to prevent abusive cyber bullying of an ex-partner in a sexual situation. According to The Chicago Sun-Times, Hastings deflected suggested language modifications to the bill raised by Mary Dixon, ACLU of Illinois' Legislative Director.  Dixon expressed concerns that: