Results tagged “aclu”

Tomorrow, the controversial law that requires physicians to notify the parents or guardians of girls 17 years old or younger who seek abortions will go into effect. Unlike in many other states, however, in Illinois parental consent is not required. There are ways around the notification: in the case of medical emergency or if the girl puts in writing that the pregnancy was a result of sexual assault, she may bypass the notification. A teen can also request a bypass of notification by appearing before a judge who would have 48 hours to rule. The ACLU of Illinois has set up a website designed to help guide girls through the bypass process. The law was actually passed in 1984 and updated in 1995, but that update was placed under a federal injunction which was lifted this summer by the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

State legislators approved a huge $29 billion public works program to create jobs and repair the state’s infrastructure, however roughly $500 million can be spent in legislator’s home districts on pet projects such as $50k for the Candlewick Lake Association, a gated lakefront community near Rockford with a 220-acre lake and a 9-hole golf course. The community did not ask for the money but according to Candlewick’s general manager, “We certainly will find good use for it,” he told WBBM. Other projects slated for grants include:

• Police continue to investigate the death of a three-month old baby who was found in a crowded, dirty apartment on the Northwest Side.
• Yesterday was a dark day for businesses nationwide with tens of thousands of jobs cut. Among them, 20,000 by Illinois-based Caterpillar.
• The ACLU has filed suit against the Illinois Department of Vital Records for refusing to issue new birth certificates to transgenders who have their sex change operation performed overseas.

The American Civil Liberties Union, along with several prominent civil rights groups, are asking Governor Blagojevich to end the practice of so-called "consent searches".

Rolling Meadows police have set up barricades and check points outside an apartment complex, which a federal lawsuit filed by the building's owner today says violates the residents' civil rights.