The United States is the only country in the world that regularly sentences children to life and death in prison. On Tuesday, Oct. 21, the Springfield branch of the American Civil Liberties Unio...

 Watch what you say; it can now be recorded without your knowledge or consent.The Illinois Supreme Court decided this very thing last week in a pair of unanimous decisions that invalidated a stat...

In a recent senatorial dustup, Sen. John McCain called Republican colleague Rand Paul one of “the wacko birds” of Congress. McCain was giving Sen. Paul a tongue-lashing for having mounted ...

A federal class-action lawsuit settled last week requires Illinois to improve conditions for incarcerated youth, but the state agency overseeing the facilities says many reforms are already in place.T...

Springfield-area American Civil Liberties Union and Liberty Brew & View host a free showing of the powerful new documentary, Better This World, on Tuesday, July 17. UIUC Law Professor Steve Becket...

Randy Walden did everything right, but it wasn’t enough.When Walden’s partner of nine years, Curt Sills, was diagnosed with cancer in 2002, Walden and Sills drew up documents giving Walden...

At least 21 children between the ages of 12 and 14 had the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia in 2006, according to the Sangamon County Department of Public Health.That startling fact illustrates ...

As Illinois lawmakers debate a bill to increase registration requirements for sex offenders under a federal mandate, reform advocates say it would cost the state too much. They say many other states h...

More than nine months after Illinois’ civil union law took effect, state lawmakers are still arguing over what it means. That’s because of a controversial measure to exempt religious adopt...

A study of traffic stop data released by the Illinois Department of Transportation shows minority drivers in Illinois and in Springfield are more likely than white drivers to be stopped and searched b...