News & Commentary

Wrath and revenge, dynamite often thrown back at former partners of a dissolved personal relationship, have morphed with technology and now often appear online as revenge porn.  Across the country, and here in Illinois, legislators have advanced proposals designed to combat the malicious postings of an ex-partner in a sexual situation.  While acknowledging the abusive impact of revenge porn and the need to give victims legal recourse against perpetrators, The Chicago Sun-Times editorial cautions against state legislative action that slaps on criminal sanctions. The editorial, decrying the reality of unchecked revenge porn, notes that:

Chicago Reporter blogger Curtis Black reviews Chicago Police Department surveillance activity over the last several years in the wake of the undercover infiltration revealed in the trial of the NATO 3.  Black notes, appropriately, that the Chicago Police Department largely has reverted back to using surveillance tactics and methods similar to those used by the department’s notorious Red Squad of the 1970’s. While many of these practices were barred for many years under a consent decree in the ACLU of Illinois' so-called "spy suit."   The ACLU of Illinois expressed special concern the these tactics may be used now that the consent decree has been lifted:

The ACLU of Illinois is saddened to learn of the death of Ron Dorfman, a journalist, advocate for civil rights and friend the ACLU of Illinois. We take this moment to extend our heartfelt  condolences to Ron's husband Ken Ilio. Both Ron and Ken had supported and celebrated passage last year of the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Marriage Fairness Act. The reality for Ron and Ken was that they knew that they might not be able to fully enjoy the accomplishment. Ron's terminal heart disease, they knew, could well preclude his living long enough for them to legally marry in June when the law takes effect. Working with the ACLU and Lambda, Dorfman and Ilio were among the four couples who successfully petitioned the courts to expedite their marriage license because of mitigating health reasons, paving the way for other same-sex couples with seriously ill partners to obtain expedited licenses in Cook County. Dorfman and Ilio became the first male, same-sex couple to be legally married in Illinois under the court ruling. Speaking to The Chicago Sun-Times the now widowed Ilio pointed out that though he and Dorfman were just recently wed, “He’s been my partner for 20 years.”   Read the obituary.

The Justice Department, following the lead of the IRS and the Treasury Department, will now treat all married couples equally regardless of gender orientation and without regard to whether or not the state, in which they reside, recognizes same-sex marriage. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the new policy in an address to a dinner sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and pointed out that the Justice Department runs a number of benefit programs, and gives spouses certain legal protections, which will now be extended to same-sex married couples. Speaking to The Chicago Sun-Times about Holder’s announcement, Ed Yohnka, ACLU of Illinois Director of Communications, pointed out that “It’s just a further step on the way to equality.”Read the article.

LGBT Illinois citizens have long struggled against a legal system that treats families of same-sex couples as legal strangers. The well documented economic and legal toll of that discrimination galvanized the general public’s support for passage of the Illinois Religious Liberty and Marriage Fairness Act, now set to go into effect on June 1, 2014. After passage of the measure, the ACLU of Illinois, along with our allies at Lambda Legal, asked a federal court to insure that the promise of marriage was real for those facing serious illness -- assuring that couples with a partner facing such a circumstance did not have to wait until June. We told the court that if the ailing partner passed away before June, then the guarantee of marriage would never be realized.

The ACLU has long maintained that any and all mandated, uniform prison sentences derail the fair and balanced application of justice. The travesty of rigidly imposed harsh, life sentences on non-violent drug offenders led to the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 which freed judges from having to impose the one-size-fits-all sentences regardless of any mitigating circumstances, even for first time offenders. The Chicago Sun Times editorial points out that the 2010 law did not retroactively address the plight of 8,800 drug offenders already in federal prisons serving life sentences and applauds Senator Dick Durbin’s efforts to enact new, corrective legislation. The editorial quotes Deputy Attorney General James Cole who last week maintained:

He was 23, in a San Francisco prison for defying a federal order, and had gone so far as to change his name and undergo minor plastic surgery to avoid arrest. In 1942, most would call the young man’s actions, at best, imprudent; at worst, suspicious and disloyal. Few would consider him a brave patriot. The country was at war and citizens wrapped themselves in a cloud of apprehension that measured civic duty and loyalty through obedience. Few supported the imprisoned shipyard worker, Fred Korematsu, or condoned his refusal to report, as ordered, to his assigned “Assembly Center” in Oakland where the federal government was rounding up Japanese Americans for relocation out of west coast states.Ernest Besig, then Director of the ACLU-Northern California saw Korematsu

Illinois State Senator Michael Hastings (D-Orland Park) has introduced legislation to criminalize revenge postings of nude or sexually explicit photos and videos on the internet. Calling such posts harassment and cyber bullying, Hastings’ bill would make it a felony to post these types of pictures, taken during private relationships, on the internet without permission. Hastings maintains that current Illinois statutes fail to offer protections against former partners sharing pictures out of revenge.  Similar bills are being considered in 13 other states and have already been enacted in New Jersey and California. However, the ACLU has long urged caution whenever issues of free speech and censorship are raised.  In a statement commenting on Senator Hastings’ bill, Ed Yohnka, ACLU of Illinois Communications Director, maintained that:

I lost my drive after my older brother Rufus was sentenced. I didn't care. I didn't trust. That was my attitude. Rufus was the father figure I looked up to. When he went to jail for the rest of his life, I started looking up to his buddies. A lot of them are dead or in jail now.