chicagonow Blog

Illinois Law Mandates DNA Testing For All Sex Crimes

Yesterday, under a new law signed by Governor Pat Quinn, Illinois has become the first state to require the testing of all DNA evidence gathered from sex crimes. The law comes about after the Chicago Tribune exposed that many rape kits were being placed into police storage untested. Starting October 1, all state police departments will be required to submit DNA collected from sex crimes to the crime lab within 10 days of collection. From that point, the crime lab will be required to analyze the evidence within six months. This law will not provide new funding for the mandate.

For more information on this issue read this article posted by Chicago Tribune Breaking News.

chicagonow Blog

Sen. Al Franken Succeeds in Passing an Amendment to Protect Victims of Sexual Assault!

A female employee of Halliburton/KBR was gang raped by her co-workers in Baghdad and then locked in a shipping container when she attempted to report the crime.  She was allowed to return home due to intervention by her US Representative, Ted Poe.  However, due to a clause in her Halliburton/KBR contract, she was unable to face her rapists in court.  The contract forced her to settle the matter out of court in arbitration.

Thankfully, Junior Senator Al Franken was paying attention!  He proposed and has now passed Senate Amendment 2588 which prohibits government contractors from forcing employees to resolve legal matters in arbitration.

Senate Amendment 2588 passed on a vote of 68-30. Read the text here.

chicagonow Blog

October 10th – Roman Polanski, Rape IS Rape

Chicago NOW joins PAVE to spread the word that Rape is Rape!

Sat, 10/10 at 7:00 pm at AMC River East 21 Theatres, 322 E Illinois Street, Chicago, IL

PAVE’s Chicago Chapter will hold a Roman Polanski Petition Campaign to counteract Hollywood’s shameful support of this child rapist. Bring signs and candles!

If you are not in Chicago, join a protest or organize a protest in your area. Find more information about the campaign against Roman Polanski at www.RapeIsRape.com.

Learn more about PAVE – Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment