Illinois

The Chicago City Council has voted to make $5.5 million in compensation available to at least 119 people tortured by police officers into giving false confessions, the Chicago Reporter's Adeshina Emmanuel reports. Police officers beat victims, burned them with cigarettes, handcuffed them to hot radiators, tied plastic bags over their heads and came close to suffocating victims, and electrocuted victims in their mouths and on their genitals. The measure "draws from the United Nations Convention against Torture and human rights practices around the world, especially in nations that overcame the legacy of violent, repressive regimes," Emmanuel reports.

Illinois has become the 16th state in the country--and the largest state in America's heartland-- to authorize same-sex matrimoney, according to the Associated Press. Governor Pat Quinn signed the legislation on a desk once used by President Abraham Lincoln and at a ceremony attended by an estimated 2,300, the AP reported. The law goes into effect June 1.

After lawmakers approved legislation to authorize same-sex marriage in Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn has said he will sign the bill, the Chicago Tribune reports. The newspaper also reports that the prospects for the legislation improved when supporters could point to the situation "in in which gay couples living in states that recognize same-sex marriage have more rights than their counterparts in states that haven't legalized gay marriage. The two-class system was a clear narrative that advocates could use when lobbying lawmakers who were on the fence, contending it just didn't make sense for gay couples in Illinois to be denied access to benefits that were available to couples living just across the border in Iowa."

Iowa has same-sex marriage as the result of a ruling by that state's Supreme Court.

Legislators may vote on same-sex marriage next week, according to GateHouse Media: "Advocates for same-sex marriage in Illinois say they're ready for a vote next week. It's been months of energetic lobbying, but there are signals lawmakers may be prepared for a tally after the measure was set aside earlier this year."

Bloomberg reports that an Illinois judge has found that 25 same-sex couples seeking to able to get married in Illinois are going to be able to proceed with their lawsuits. "Cook County Circuit Judge Sophia Hall announced her ruling today from the bench at the courthouse in downtown Chicago," Bloomberg also reported.

An Illinois judge is expected to rule today on a motion to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to establish same-sex marriage in that state, WREX out of Rockford, Illinois, reports.