The girls say they were just joking around, but officials at Griffith Middle School say their comments violate bullying and harassment policies. more ›

A Midlothian man is suing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton because he says he was denied a U.S. passport and discriminated against because he is Muslim despite being a natural born U.S. citizen. more ›

Occupy Chicago member Keilah Becker, who was live-streaming the march, got into an altercation with a Chicago Police officer. Via press release, Becker saided as she was recording the events taking place, an officer pushed her and “began yelling extremely sexist and verbally abusive comments at me…I was streaming all of this.” more ›

Several court cases in Illinois stand to challenge laws which make it illegal to record interactions with police in public, according to the Chicago Tribune. In 1994, a ban on eavesdropping in Illinois was extended to include “open and obvious audio recordings” of police, even if those recordings take place on a public street. more ›

FOP president Michael Shields said in a speech Monday beats should be decided by officials, the union, and the community, not the ACLU and a judge. more ›

The Chicago Housing Authority is causing some controversy over their new plan to require drug testing for its current and future residents. The proposed policy would require any CHA resident over the age of 18 to be tested for drugs, and would effect 16,000 families currently living in CHA establishments. But this is not the only new policy that is raising some eyebrows. The new CHA proposal also calls to eliminate "innocent tenant defense," which the Sun-Times refers to "evictions initiated when a drug-related or violent crime has been committed by a relative or guest of the leaseholding tenant - but the tenant was not involved nor had knowledge of the crime." more ›

In December 2009 Chicago artist Chris Drew set out to break Chicago’s anti-peddling law. He wired himself to audio record the arrest, and when the police found out he was also given a felony eavesdropping charge. Under Illinois law it is illegal for anyone to audio/visually record anything in public or private without all involved parties consenting. Charges of eavesdropping have been increasing lately, most frequently involving citizens recording police officers doing their job. more ›

Cook County Judge Daniel Riley has lifted a temporary restraining order on the state's controversial abortion notification law that requires doctors to notify the guardians of girls 17 years old or younger 48 hours before an abortion procedure; no parental consent is required for the procedure. The law was actually passed in 1984 and updated in 1995, but that update was placed under a federal injunction which was lifted last summer by the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The law was slated to go into effect last November, but Judge Riley granted the ACLU's restraining order on the law just hours after The Illinois' Medical Disciplinary Board cleared the law. more ›

On January 1st, 2010 an increase in registration fees will make it more difficult for non-profit organizations to lobby the state legislature. The ACLU of Illinois filed suit on Friday asking a federal court to block the increase, calling it a “tax on free speech.” more ›

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. more ›

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: more ›

• 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". more ›

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. more ›