News & Commentary

Seventeen years ago, my son Seneca was shot six times by Chicago Police after being chased on foot. The police officers even fired upon and injured an innocent bystander after chasing Seneca into an occupied building.In the wake of the shooting deaths of Adam Tole

The below statement can be attributed to Colleen Connell, Executive Director, ACLU of Illinois: “For the second time in weeks, the people of Chicago are presented with video footage of a young Latino man being shot and killed by police during a foot pursuit. Again, a family suffers as the Alvarez family experiences the grief and pain of witnessing the last moments of a loved one.   Chicago communities also suffer trauma with each of these releases - especially Latino communities, which once again see how police respond to people from their neighborhoods. We mourn this loss of life and the repeated trauma experienced by Chicago communities.   The investigation of Mr. Alvarez’s death, like that of Adam Toledo, must be complete and transparent. The people of Chicago deserve answers. And just as important, Chicago residents deserve meaningful changes to policing. They deserve a new policy on foot pursuits that is informed by community voices and driven by community needs - and one that actually results in changes in how police officers treat human beings. This is but one step in creating a Chicago Police Department that serves all Chicagoans, including Black and Brown people. The lack of meaningful police reform in Chicago is not only costing the City lives, but also taking a psychological toll on communities of color. The City must abandon the current snail’s pace of police reform and become serious about making real changes that serve all neighborhoods.”

The following statement can be attributed to the ACLU of Illinois: “The Illinois House of Representatives today continued its tradition of balancing new technology and protecting our personal privacy. House Bill 2553, the Protecting Household Privacy Act, assures that the growing number of smart technology devices in our homes will not be used to invade our personal privacy. With the popularity of virtual assistants, Ring doorbells, and smart appliances, we know that many residents of Illinois are enjoying the convenience of these devices. But those devices should not become another tool for increased surveillance that allows law-enforcement to gather personal information from inside our homes without any regulation. HB 2553 places modest regulations on if, when, and how law-enforcement can access intimate data collected by household electronic devices. Today's vote represents the Illinois House of Representatives' commitment to protect personal privacy and ensure our residents can enjoy new, developing technology, without sacrificing their privacy.  We applaud State Representative Ann Williams for her leadership in this area and appreciate the unanimous and bi-partisan support from all those who voted for this bill in the House.”

When Laura Bowers was sentenced to life in prison in 1990 in connection with the death of her abusive husband, neither society nor the legal system understood the ramifications of surviving domestic violence. If Ms. Bowers had tried to fl

The statement below can be attributed to Ben Ruddell, Criminal Justice Policy Director, ACLU of Illinois: “We applaud the Illinois House vote today sending House Bill 3447 over to the Senate. This bill reduces penalties for simple drug possession from a felony — which includes the risk of prison time — to a misdemeanor. This approach not only strengthens communities across Illinois but addresses fundamental problems in our criminal legal system, rejecting decades of failed policy under the moniker of the War on Drugs. We know that taking a proven public health approach to reducing harms associated with drug use will benefit everyone in the State of Illinois. The voters recognize this reality. More than 3 in 4 registered voters in Illinois support this approach to simple possession of drugs. We urge the Senate to pass the measure as soon as possible. We thank Representative Ammons for her sponsorship of this bill, and thank all of the members who supported the measure today. Illinois has suffered for too long under these failed policies. We can do better. We will do better.”

The statement below can be attributed to Colleen Connell, Executive Director, ACLU of Illinois:

A group of four men detained at the Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) today asked a federal court to step in and immediately order long overdue measures to protect those detained in MCC before a third wave of COVID sweeps through the facility. The MCC has been a vector for spread of the coronavirus since last spring. In May 2020, 20 to 25% of the population was diagnosed with an infection, despite a lack of testing throughout the facility. The rate in the Fall was even higher. The request comes today in a motion filed on behalf of the four detainees and a potential class of other detainees. The group is represented by lawyers for the ACLU of Illinois and the law firm Winston & Strawn. Yet, the facility has taken few, if any steps, to address the spread of COVID. With COVID cases on the rise again in Chicago and Illinois, it is only a matter of time before another outbreak.  “MCC officials have failed to adopt a coherent strategy for confronting COVID,” said Camille Bennett, Director of the Corrections Reform Project at the ACLU of Illinois. “It is time for the court to order a plan for the facility – before it is once again too late.”  “A year into this pandemic, MCC residents have been left without the basic tools to combat the spread of COVID-19 that many of us take for granted—masks and the ability to social distance—not to mention access to crucial education regarding vaccines,” said Thomas Weber, Partner at Winston & Strawn LLP.  The demand for a specific plan comes in a lawsuit filed in late January by two detainees and later joined by three others. The MCC, where they are held, has had between 500 and 600 persons detained there, although it is a facility designed for only 400 detainees. This overcrowding has caused double-bunking in small cells and the housing of up to 100 persons in dormitory units and facilitated the spread of COVID-19. Today’s filing notes that little is being done to facilitate vaccines in the MCC. COVID vaccines have been slow to arrive there, and detainees have received little information and no education about their safety and efficacy. Some staff have even added to hesitancy by suggesting that the vaccine might be dangerous. The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which runs the MCC, has its own problem of staff vaccination hesitancy, having reported that, nationwide, barely 50% of staff have accepted offered vaccinations.  In addition, while other correctional systems have adopted widespread testing to help identify outbreaks before they gain hold, MCC, despite its two serious episodes, is still without routine testing. Sanitation and plumbing problems vex the facility, and one year into the pandemic, MCC residents still do not have reliable masks, and staff—who enter and exit every day—do not consistently comply with masking mandates.  “It is a matter of when, not if, there is another outbreak at MCC,” added the ACLU’s Bennett. “We are fearful that another surge may come any day now.” “MCC residents cannot socially distance. They are at the mercy of a correctional system that has so far refused to protect them with measures—testing, masking, vaccine and vaccine education—that have been shown to work.  The government must act now to avoid further needless harm.”  The filing asks the court to order a number of steps:

Parental Notice of Abortion Violates Human Rights, Harms Young People

The below statement can be attributed to Nusrat Choudhury, legal director at the ACLU of Illinois: “The death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, shot to death by Chicago police officers, is a tragedy for the Toledo family, the community and the entire City. We grieve for his mother, family, and friends. Foot pursuits in Chicago long have been dangerous. That continues today. The Monitor overseeing the consent decree designed to reform the CPD last week demonstrated that the percentage of Chicago police foot pursuits involving deadly force more than doubled in the most recent reporting period.  Four years ago, the US Department of Justice unequivocally found that CPD’s lack of a foot pursuit policy contributed to patterns of excessive force against communities of color. For four years, the City and CPD resisted repeated calls from advocates and the community to adopt a foot pursuit policy. It should not have taken the death of a 13-year-old to finally get a response.  A Chicago Police Department policy on foot pursuits is long overdue and must address unsafe foot pursuit tactics and set forth guidelines that balance the objective of apprehending people for whom there is reasonable suspicion of unlawful conduct with the serious risk of injury and harm.”