By The Digital Privacy Alliance

The private online information of Illinoisans took a major hit after Gov. Bruce Rauner rejected House Bill 3449, the Geolocation Privacy Protection Act. Had it been signed into law, this historic piece of legislation would have provided transparency by requiring corporations that collect, use or sell Illinoisans’ geolocation information from their mobile devices to obtain their consent before tracking them.
Instead, Rauner’s veto is a betrayal of consumer trust and total failure to people who value their personal privacy. Rauner’s action is a clear message that he values his Silicon Valley friends more than the people and small businesses in Illinois.

Read More

Posted on September 25, 2017

By The Obama Library Community Benefits Agreement Coalition

The Wolfpack is a community football team that plays on the field in Jackson Park where the Obama Library will be located, at 61st and Stony Island.
On Sunday at 2:30 p.m. they will be playing their 20th – and what might be their last – homecoming game there.

Read More

Posted on September 22, 2017

By The Obama Library Community Benefits Agreement Coalition

Hundreds of community residents will gather at Hyde Park Academy High School, 6220 S. Stony Island, at 6 p.m. today for a meeting announcing a renewed push for a Community Benefits Agreement with the Obama Library that includes the City, the University of Chicago, and the Obama Foundation.
The Obama Library Community Benefit Agreement Coalition will announce a new push for a City Community Benefits Agreement Ordinance which would ensure benefits around jobs, housing, sustainability, transportation and education.
Che “Rhymefest” Smith, hip-artist and community activist, will keynote the event in support of a Community Benefits Agreement. The Coalition will also announce new ally organizations, which now number over a dozen.

Read More

Posted on September 20, 2017

By Andre Perry/The Hechinger Report

Storms will inevitably come; the tragedy is that avoidable manmade disasters will follow.
After Hurricane Katrina, many talked about New Orleans schools as a “clean sheet of paper.” People bandied around phrases like “starting from scratch” and “wipe the slate clean” – anything that treated teachers, students and parents as if they were as easily erased as drawings on an Etch A Sketch. It seems that many considered the people who worked in public schools prior to the storm as collateral damage for the grand New Orleans experiment (another worn-out phrase).

Read More

Posted on September 19, 2017

By The Illinois Public Interest Research Group

Consumer advocates praised the introduction of House Bill 4095, legislation to make credit freezes free for all Illinois residents, sponsored by Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) and championed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Sen. Dan Biss (D-Evanston) has filed companion legislation in the Senate, Senate Bill 2230.
In response to the Equifax data breach, which has placed over 140 million Americans at risk for various forms of identity theft, consumer advocates and attorney generals have advised consumers to seriously consider placing a credit freeze with all three credit bureaus. A credit freeze is the only real tool consumers have to stop new account identity theft.

Read More

Posted on September 14, 2017

By The Obama Library South Side Community Benefits Agreement Coalition

Nine months after Chicagoans lined up overnight for a chance to hear President Barack Obama’s farewell address, Chicagoans are again lining up overnight to engage the officials responsible for the Obama Presidential Center and neighborhood developments.
They want to know: Why don’t officials from the Obama Foundation, as well as the City of Chicago and University of Chicago, commit to a Community Benefits Agreement?

Read More

Posted on September 13, 2017

By Gail Ablow/BillMoyers.com

The City of Chicago sued the U.S. Justice Department last month for threatening to deny them public safety grants if they refuse to work closely with federal immigration enforcement.
Instead of waiting for court decisions, however, Gabe Gonzalez and a group of neighbors in Chicago took matters into their own hands.

Read More

Posted on September 12, 2017

By The MacArthur Justice Center

The Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center has filed a petition asking the Illinois Supreme Court to hear the civil rights case brought by Alan Beaman, who served 13 years in prison after being falsely convicted of murder.
In 2008, Beaman was more than a dozen years into a 50-year sentence for the 1993 murder of Jennifer Lockmiller when the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously reversed the conviction and the State’s Attorney dropped all charges. Mr. Beaman subsequently received a certificate of innocence and official pardon from the Governor. Beaman is now asking the Illinois Supreme Court for the opportunity to move forward with his civil suit.

Read More

Posted on September 10, 2017

By The Patriotic Millionaires

While President Trump demonizes undocumented workers and preys on their children, and GOP politicians try to sell the country on the absurd idea that tax cuts for rich people and corporations help regular people, the Patriotic Millionaires think it is worth pointing out that our undocumented fellow residents pay far more in federal taxes than many of our “best” corporations.
To wit:

Read More

Posted on September 7, 2017

By Julia Conley/Common Dreams

A progressive think tank was joined by hundreds of supporters Thursday in a Twitter campaign demanding that corporations pay a fair tax rate.
A day after President Donald Trump touted his “scam” tax proposal, the Institute for Policy Studies’ #PayUpCorps campaign highlighted needs in infrastructure, healthcare and other sectors that could be paid for with all the money corporations stand to save under the Koch brothers’-backed tax plan.

Read More

Posted on September 1, 2017