By The Illinois Public Interest Research Group

A new survey released by Illinois PIRG, “Recharge Repair,” found a surge in consumer demand for phone repair following the revelation Apple was slowing phones with older batteries. “Recharge Repair” identifies the barriers to battery replacement and phone repair that added to long repair delays for consumers. The findings support the need for Right to Repair reforms to grant consumers and third parties access to the parts and tools to repair cell phones and other electronics.
“We should be free to fix our stuff,” said Abe Scarr, Illinois PIRG director. “Repairing products that still have useful life reduces needless waste, but unfortunately, companies are making products harder to repair. This survey demonstrates that consumers are looking for more options to repair their phones.”
Among the survey’s findings:

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Posted on February 5, 2018

By The National Fair Housing Alliance

The National Fair Housing Alliance and 19 fair housing organizations from across the country – including those from Evanston, Homewood and Wheaton – filed a housing discrimination lawsuit Thursday in federal district court in Chicago alleging Deutsche Bank and associated firms neglected bank-owned homes in African-American communities while maintaining similar homes in white neighborhoods.
The organizations joining NFHA in filing the complaint include fair housing centers in Wheaton, Evanston and Homewood
NFHA filed this lawsuit on the first day of Black History Month to highlight how neglected bank-owned homes hurt African-American communities. The lawsuit alleges that Deutsche Bank purposely failed to maintain its foreclosed bank-owned homes (also known as real estate owned or “REO” properties) in middle- and working- class African-American and Latino neighborhoods in 30 metropolitan areas, while it consistently maintained similar bank-owned homes in white neighborhoods. The data presented in the federal lawsuit, which is supported by substantial photographic evidence, shows a stark pattern of discriminatory conduct by Deutsche Bank in the maintenance of foreclosed homes.

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Posted on February 4, 2018

By Indivisible Chicago

The Illinois Senate has passed SB2273, which will protect Illinois voter data by pulling state voter data out of the national Crosscheck program. The final vote broke down along party lines 35-17 with three Republicans abstaining. The bill will now head to the House where Representative Ann Williams will be the bill’s chief sponsor.
“This is fantastic news,” said Steve Held, one of the leaders of the Indivisible Chicago team fighting for data privacy protections and voter rights. “It’s heartening to see our legislators move so quickly to protect voters’ privacy. It’s unfortunate that this broke down along a party-line vote at a time when the vulnerability of our voter data and concerns about identity theft have never been clearer; however, we’re hopeful that we’ll see more bipartisan support in the House.”

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Posted on February 1, 2018