News & Commentary

Chicago Tonight reporter Paris Schutz spoke with ACLU of Illinois Legal Director Harvey Grossman about city officials who violated the Illinois Eavesdropping Act by secretly recording their phone calls with reporters. Under Illinois law, it is a felony to record audio of a person without their consent. The federal 7th Circuit Court of appeals recently ruled in favor of an ACLU of Illinois lawsuit challenging the application of the eavesdropping law to ACLU staff who wish to record audio of police officers performing their public duties in a public place. While the Cook County States Attorney is blocked from being able to prosecute ACLU staff who record audio without consent, Illinois citizens in other counties are still liable under the eavesdropping law and if charged, could face up to 15 years in prison.

ACLU of Illinois Senior Staff Counsel Adam Schwartz was interviewed on AlterPolitics and Reason TV about our recently released report highlighting Illinois fusion centers and their lack of sufficient privacy safeguards. Check out the video below:

Today, the a United States Senate committee issued a report – labeled “scathing” by some – on the work of fusion centers across the United States. Fusion Centers, mainly formed after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, are designed to share information and analysis about suspected criminal activity across federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

On S