Talking Liberties with the ACLU of Illinois

Talking Liberties with the ACLU of Illinois
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  • NEWS
Talking Liberties with the ACLU of Illinois

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!

  1. Episode 40: Local Elections Matter

    03/20/2023

    Episode 40: Local Elections Matter

    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.

    27 min
  2. Episode 39: Innocent Until Proven Guilty

    12/15/2022

    Episode 39: Innocent Until Proven Guilty

    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.

    35 min
  3. Episode 38: Civil Liberties Down the Ballot

    11/01/2022

    Episode 38: Civil Liberties Down the Ballot

    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.

    42 min
  4. Episode 37: Fighting Against Book Bans

    09/20/2022

    Episode 37: Fighting Against Book Bans

    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.

    38 min
  5. Episode 36: ICE Enforcement In Our Communities

    04/14/2022

    Episode 36: ICE Enforcement In Our Communities

    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.

    34 min
  6. Episode 35: Banned From Changing Your Name

    10/01/2021

    Episode 35: Banned From Changing Your Name

    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.

    31 min
  7. Episode 34: "It's Always Except Abortion"

    09/09/2021

    Episode 34: "It's Always Except Abortion"

    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.

    44 min
  8. Episode 33: Improving Sex Education in Illinois

    08/23/2021

    Episode 33: Improving Sex Education in Illinois

    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 & 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.

    29 min
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4.7
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

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!

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