On April 4 Illinois will hold elections for local elected offices – like school board, city council, mayor and more. In this episode we were joined by Khadine Bennett, Director of Advocacy and Intergovernmental Affairs at the ACLU of Illinois to discuss how these local offices are important to protecting rights and civil liberties for your community, and how each vote counts.

Episode 40: Local Elections Matter

In 2023 Illinois will end the use of a money bond system - a system that prioritizes wealth when making decisions about who awaits trial in county jail. The new system relies on individualized assessments about public safety to make this critical decision. On this episode of Talking Liberties we were joined by Lake County States Attorney Eric Rinehart, Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, and ACLU of Illinois Director of Criminal Justice Policy Ben Ruddell to discuss how this new law will reform the pretrial system in Illinois.

Episode 39: Innocent Until Proven Guilty

As the 2022 Midterm Election approaches on November 8 many voters are still deciding on whom to vote for – or whether to vote at all. The reality is that our civil liberties are on the ballot at every level and in every race. In this episode we were joined by Khadine Bennett, Director of Advocacy and Intergovernmental Affairs at the ACLU of Illinois to discuss how a range of offices up for election in 2022 have a real impact on your civil rights and liberties.

Episode 38: Civil Liberties Down the Ballot

Efforts to ban books in public and school libraries across the country has more than doubled in the past year. In this episode we were joined by Deborah Stone-Caldwell, director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association, and Rebecca Glenberg, Senior Supervising Attorney at the ACLU of Illinois to discuss the threats to challenged books across country and in Illinois, and what each of us can do to fight back against these threats in our own communities.

Episode 37: Fighting Against Book Bans

In 2018, ICE conducted a series of controversial raids across the Chicago area using traffic stops and other techniques to detain hundreds of individuals for immigration violations. In this episode, we are joined by Antonio Gutierrez, an organizer with Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD)and Mark Fleming, a lawyer from the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) to discuss those raids, the lawsuit filed in response to the arrests, and how the settlement will change ICE practices in Illinois and across the country.

Episode 36: ICE Enforcement In Our Communities

Illinois currently has one of the most restrictive laws name change laws in the country – a law that bans people from being able to change their names for at least ten years. On this episode we discussed the harms that this law imposes and efforts in Springfield to remove this unjust restriction. We were joined by advocates Eisha Love, a transgender activist, and Avi Rudnick a lawyer and the Director of Scattered Site Housing at Chicago House and a Board member of the Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois Name Change Mobilization which helps transgender people change their names.

Episode 35: Banned From Changing Your Name

Even as Roe hangs by a thread, there are countless barriers to make abortions difficult, even impossible for people to access. On this episode we were joined by Representative Jan Schakowsky, Megan Jeyifo and Aalap Bommaraju from the Chicago Abortion Fund, and Ameri Klafeta from the ACLU of Illinois to talk about how the stigmatization of abortion has allowed for policies like the Hyde Amendment and PNA to continue to restrict access to abortion – and the consequences of that here in Illinois and across the country.

Episode 34: "It's Always Except Abortion"

Illinois has  a new law updating and adding to the standards for how personal health and sexual health education is taught in this state. We sat down with Scout Bratt, Outreach &amp; Education Director at Chicago Women's Health Center and Chelsea Diaz, our Advocacy Associate to find out more about what the Keeping Youth Safe and Healthy Act includes, and what more we can do to ensure comprehensive and inclusive sex education is taught in Illinois.

Episode 33: Improving Sex Education in Illinois

In 2019, Jaylan Butler – an innocent college student returning from a swim meet on his team’s bus – was taken to the ground and had a gun held to his head by police officers in Illinois. Jaylan bravely filed a lawsuit against those officers to hold them accountable for their actions, and that case was recently resolved. We speak with Jaylan about his story, and with ACLU of Illinois Police Practices Staff Attorney Rachel Murphy on how traumatic police interactions continue to harm communities of color throughout Illinois and our country.

Episode 32: "I Got To Go Home."

We all want young people to be able to talk to their parents about important life decisions. However, the idea that the government can force healthy family interactions ignores reality for many youth and the lasting injuries that result from enforcing these laws. That is why the Parental Notice of Abortion Act (PNA) is dangerous in Illinois and must be repealed. We are joined by Emily Werth, ACLU of IL Women's and Reproductive Rights Project Staff Attorney, as well as two experts who have seen the harms of PNA up close: Dr. Rebecca Commito, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Chicago, and Retired Judge Susan Fox Gillis. You can also learn more about SB 2190 and take action by going to: https://www.aclu-il.org/en/legislation/sb-2190-repeal-pna

We all want young people to be able to talk to their parents about important life decisions. However, the idea that the government can force healthy family interactions ignores reality for many youth and the lasting injuries that result from enforcing these laws. That is why the Parental Notice of Abortion Act (PNA) is dangerous in Illinois and must be repealed. We are joined by Emily Werth, ACLU of IL Women's and Reproductive Rights Project Staff Attorney, as well as two experts who have seen the harms of PNA up close: Dr. Rebecca Commito, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Chicago, and Retired Judge Susan Fox Gillis. You can also learn more about SB 2190 and take action by going to: <a href="https://www.aclu-il.org/en/legislation/sb-2190-repeal-pna" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.aclu-il.org/en/legislation/sb-2190-repeal-pna</a>

Episode 31: It's Time to Repeal PNA

On Talking Liberties with the ACLU of Illinois, we are here to chat about the big issues of the day, both home in the Land of Lincoln and across our country. We are here to help educate and tell you how you can get involved so we work together towards a more perfect union. Each episode features interviews, news updates, events, and actions that you can take right now to protect your rights. Remember: dissent is patriotic!

The host has a great presence and a good interaction with his guests. He makes the topics interesting and makes sure people know how they can get involved.

Really great informative podcast

Great to get both my IL news fix and an in-depth look at issues threatening our civil liberties!

Illinoisans needs this podcast!

Talking Liberties with the ACLU of Illinois

Welcome to a bonus episode of Talking Liberties. On Saturday, February 29th, the ACLU hosted a candidate’s forum for the office of Cook County State’s Attorney. We were pleased to be joined by Bill Conway, former Chicago City Alderman Bob Fioretti, and current Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. We bring you that discussion in full here. We also sent questionnaires to the candidates running, asking each to share their positions on crucial civil liberties issues. You can read their responses on our website – aclu-il.org - before you vote on March 17th.

Welcome to a bonus episode of Talking Liberties. On Saturday, February 29th, the ACLU hosted a candidate’s forum for the office of Cook County State’s Attorney. We were pleased to be joined by Bill Conway, former Chicago City Alderman Bob Fioretti, and current Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. We bring you that discussion in full here. We also sent questionnaires to the candidates running, asking each to share their positions on crucial civil liberties issues. You can read their responses on our website – <a href="http://aclu-il.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">aclu-il.org</a> - before you vote on March 17th.

Episode 19: Live at the Cook County State's Attorney Candidate Forum

More than one in four transgender people have lost a job due to bias, and more than three-fourths have experienced some form of workplace discrimination. Refusal to hire, privacy violations, harassment, and even physical and sexual violence on the job are common occurrences, and are experienced at even higher rates by transgender people of color. Our client Judi Brown, an African-American transgender woman, was fired from national convenience store chain Circle K after she complained about the harassment and discrimination she experienced. Judi joins us to discuss her experience - we also speak with her lawyer, ACLU of Illinois Staff Attorney Carolyn Wald, about the many challenges facing transgender employees in our state and across the country.

Episode 18: Fired for Being Transgender

In 2017, the Illinois legislature passed the TRUST Act, which prohibits local law enforcement from holding a person based on a “detainer” issued by immigration authorities unless presented with a signed judicial warrant. However, three men recently filed lawsuits after they were arrested for minor traffic infractions and detained by the Sheriffs in Ogle and Stephenson Counties until federal immigration authorities came to pick them up, even after they already had posted bond. On this episode, we speak with Mony Ruiz-Velasco, Executive Director of PASO – West Suburban Action Project, and ACLU of IL Immigrant Rights’ Attorney Aarón Siebert-Llera about these lawsuits and a new campaign to ensure uniform enforcement of the TRUST Act across Illinois.

Episode 17: Enforcing the TRUST Act

Concerns about protecting your personal information online continue to grow, especially from its use by corporations and the government. Emerging technologies – including facial recognition and mobile fingerprinting software – are making our ability to protect our digital privacy more difficult than ever, if not impossible. On this episode, we speak with Adam Schwartz, Senior Staff Attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, about what we can do to shield ourselves from invasive surveillance technology, as well as the importance of the groundbreaking Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Episode 16: Protecting Your Biometric Information

Last week, School District 211 announced it was proposing a new policy that would grant transgender students unrestricted access to the locker room of the student's gender identity and end the use of privacy stalls. This is a long-deserved victory for our clients Student A, Nova Maday, and every student who is transgender who has ever walked the halls of a D211 high school. In a special edition of TALKING LIBERTIES, we speak with Nova about her experience and what she hopes this means for the future.

Episode 15: Transgender Students Belong

It was a marathon legislative session in Springfield this Spring, culminating in the passage of several important civil liberties protections including the Reproductive Health Act. ACLU of IL Director of Advocacy and Intergovernmental Affairs Khadine Bennett joins us this episode to fill us in on the backstories of this session and where legislators can go from here to better protect our freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution.

Episode 14: Can Springfield Protect Civil Liberties?

In a special crossover episode recorded with Tom Moss of the Indivisible Chicago podcast, we talk through the Supreme Court's most recent decisions with ACLU National Legal Director David Cole, including the ACLU's recent victory in keeping a citizenship question off the 2020 Census.

Episode 13: Supreme Court Roundup - The Census

Throughout Illinois and across our country, many people are held in jail awaiting trial simply because they are unable to afford the cash bond for their release. The use of these cash bonds also increases racial disparities in the criminal system, as those detained pretrial are more likely to be convicted and receive longer sentences. In this episode, we are joined by Lavette Mayes - who was separated from her children, lost her small business, and spent 14 months in jail because she couldn't post bail - and who was featured in an ACLU animated short that illustrated her story. We are also joined by Sharlyn Grace, Executive Director of the Chicago Community Bond Fund, to discuss how we can reform this harmful system.

Episode 12: The Price of Cash Bond

Headlines across the country are rife with reports of states adopting legislation to eliminate reproductive health care access for women, including the pernicious "heartbeat" abortion bans in Georgia and Ohio. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer recently warned that the new SCOTUS majority - installed by Donald Trump - are laying the groundwork to overturn Roe v. Wade. Does this mean that abortion could be made illegal in Illinois? This episode, we are joined by two guests to discuss the need to pass the Reproductive Health Act in Illinois, which is currently stalled in Springfield: RHA co-sponsor Illinois Representative Kelly Cassidy discusses why this legislation is so important to pass right now; and ACLU of IL Executive Director Colleen Connell returns to talk through the changes that could happen in Illinois if Roe is overturned, including 24-hour bans and women having to seek spousal consent for an abortion.

Episode 11: Will Abortion Be Made Illegal in Illinois?

As an added bonus to our 10th episode, we recorded an audience Q &amp; A with Mary Meg McCarthy, Executive Director of the National Immigrant Justice Center.

Episode 10: Audience Q&A Bonus Segment

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