Illinois
License plate camera company halts cooperation with federal agencies over purpose of investigations
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — One of the nation’s leading operators of automated license-plate reading systems announced Monday it has paused its operations with federal agencies because of confusion and concern — including in Illinois — about the purpose of their investigations.
Flock Safety, whose cameras are mounted in more than 4,000 communities nationwide, put a hold last week on pilot programs with the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection and its law enforcement arm, Homeland Security Investigations, according to a statement by its founder and CEO, Garrett Langley.
Among officials in other jurisdictions, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias raised concerns. He announced Monday that an audit found Customs and Border Protection had accessed Illinois data, although he didn’t say that the agency was seeking immigration-related information. A 2023 law the Democrat pushed bars sharing license plate data with police investigating out-of-state abortions or undocumented immigrants.
"This sharing of license plate data of motorists who drive on Illinois roads is a clear violation of the state law," Giannoulias said in a statement. "This law, passed two years ago, aimed to strengthen how data is shared and prevent this exact thing from happening,"
Flock Safety’s cameras capture billions of photos of license plates each month. However, it doesn’t own that data. The local agencies in whose jurisdictions the cameras are located do, and they’re the ones who receive inquiries from other law enforcement agencies.
Langley said the company had initiated pilot programs with Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations to help combat human trafficking and fentanyl distribution. The company is unaware of any immigration-related searches the agencies made, but Langley said parameters were unclear.
"We clearly communicated poorly. We also didn’t create distinct permissions and protocols in the Flock system to ensure local compliance for federal agency users," Langley said.
The revelation comes two months after Giannoulias announced that police in the Chicago suburb of Mount Prospect had shared data with a Texas sheriff who was seeking a missing woman. The woman’s family was worried because she had undergone a self-administered abortion.
Although the sheriff in Johnson County, Texas, said he was simply trying to help the family locate the woman, Giannoulias demanded more vigilance from Flock Safety because of the abortion connection.
In addition to halting the pilot programs, Flock has tweaked its system so that federal inquiries are clearly identified as such. And federal agencies will no longer be able to make blanket national or even statewide searches, but only one-on-one searches with particular police agencies.
Asked when the federal agency had accessed Illinois data, a Giannoulias spokesperson said the investigation was ongoing.
After the June incident, Flock Safety responded to Giannoulias’ request that its system reject searches that includes terms such as "abortion," "immigration" or "ICE" (for Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Those flag terms have been in effect since late June, a Flock Safety spokesperson said.
Alabama
Federal judge rules State Senate district violates Voting Rights Act, orders new map
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered Alabama lawmakers to draw new state Senate districts after ruling the state violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the influence of Black voters around the capital city.
U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco blocked the state from using the current map in the 2026 elections and said a new map must be put in place that creates a new district in Montgomery where Black voters "comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it."
"The appropriate remedy is a redistricting plan that includes either an additional majority-Black Senate district in the Montgomery area, or an additional district there in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunity to elect a senator of their choice," Manasco wrote in the 261-page ruling.
The ruling said the court will redraw the districts if the state does not do so in time for the 2026 elections.
The order came from a 2021 lawsuit that argued the Alabama Senate district lines diluted the voting strength of Black citizens in Huntsville and Montgomery. The lawsuit maintained that in Montgomery, Black voters were unnecessarily packed into a single district, preventing them from influencing elections elsewhere, while white voters in the majority-Black city of Montgomery were "surgically" extracted into another district.
Manasco did not find a Voting Rights Act violation in Huntsville. However, she said that the evidence shows that another Black-majority district could be created in Montgomery.
Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, Greater Birmingham Ministries and a group of Black voters were plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Legal Defense Fund and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"This decision proves that when we challenge injustice, we can make progress. Alabama must now draw fairer districts in Montgomery, but let’s be clear—leaving Huntsville untouched still denies many Black Alabamians their rightful representation," said Benard Simelton, president of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP.
He said said that while they are celebrating this win they are also demanding that, "the state finish the job and deliver maps that are fair to our communities."
State Sen. Steve Livingston, who serves as majority leader in the Alabama Senate, said the ruling was being reviewed. "At this time, we are pleased with the court’s ruling in the Huntsville area and disappointed by the ruling in the Montgomery area. We will determine next steps after a thorough review of the opinion in the coming days."
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The state could appeal the ruling.
The legislative case mirrors a long-running legal fight over the state’s congressional districts which led to a new district being created ahead of last year’s election.
The ruling will alter the legislative map around Montgomery but will not change the balance in the Alabama Legislature. Republicans hold lopsided majorities in both legislative chambers. The 35-member Alabama Senate currently has seven Black senators.
License plate camera company halts cooperation with federal agencies over purpose of investigations
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — One of the nation’s leading operators of automated license-plate reading systems announced Monday it has paused its operations with federal agencies because of confusion and concern — including in Illinois — about the purpose of their investigations.
Flock Safety, whose cameras are mounted in more than 4,000 communities nationwide, put a hold last week on pilot programs with the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection and its law enforcement arm, Homeland Security Investigations, according to a statement by its founder and CEO, Garrett Langley.
Among officials in other jurisdictions, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias raised concerns. He announced Monday that an audit found Customs and Border Protection had accessed Illinois data, although he didn’t say that the agency was seeking immigration-related information. A 2023 law the Democrat pushed bars sharing license plate data with police investigating out-of-state abortions or undocumented immigrants.
"This sharing of license plate data of motorists who drive on Illinois roads is a clear violation of the state law," Giannoulias said in a statement. "This law, passed two years ago, aimed to strengthen how data is shared and prevent this exact thing from happening,"
Flock Safety’s cameras capture billions of photos of license plates each month. However, it doesn’t own that data. The local agencies in whose jurisdictions the cameras are located do, and they’re the ones who receive inquiries from other law enforcement agencies.
Langley said the company had initiated pilot programs with Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations to help combat human trafficking and fentanyl distribution. The company is unaware of any immigration-related searches the agencies made, but Langley said parameters were unclear.
"We clearly communicated poorly. We also didn’t create distinct permissions and protocols in the Flock system to ensure local compliance for federal agency users," Langley said.
The revelation comes two months after Giannoulias announced that police in the Chicago suburb of Mount Prospect had shared data with a Texas sheriff who was seeking a missing woman. The woman’s family was worried because she had undergone a self-administered abortion.
Although the sheriff in Johnson County, Texas, said he was simply trying to help the family locate the woman, Giannoulias demanded more vigilance from Flock Safety because of the abortion connection.
In addition to halting the pilot programs, Flock has tweaked its system so that federal inquiries are clearly identified as such. And federal agencies will no longer be able to make blanket national or even statewide searches, but only one-on-one searches with particular police agencies.
Asked when the federal agency had accessed Illinois data, a Giannoulias spokesperson said the investigation was ongoing.
After the June incident, Flock Safety responded to Giannoulias’ request that its system reject searches that includes terms such as "abortion," "immigration" or "ICE" (for Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Those flag terms have been in effect since late June, a Flock Safety spokesperson said.
Alabama
Federal judge rules State Senate district violates Voting Rights Act, orders new map
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered Alabama lawmakers to draw new state Senate districts after ruling the state violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the influence of Black voters around the capital city.
U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco blocked the state from using the current map in the 2026 elections and said a new map must be put in place that creates a new district in Montgomery where Black voters "comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it."
"The appropriate remedy is a redistricting plan that includes either an additional majority-Black Senate district in the Montgomery area, or an additional district there in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunity to elect a senator of their choice," Manasco wrote in the 261-page ruling.
The ruling said the court will redraw the districts if the state does not do so in time for the 2026 elections.
The order came from a 2021 lawsuit that argued the Alabama Senate district lines diluted the voting strength of Black citizens in Huntsville and Montgomery. The lawsuit maintained that in Montgomery, Black voters were unnecessarily packed into a single district, preventing them from influencing elections elsewhere, while white voters in the majority-Black city of Montgomery were "surgically" extracted into another district.
Manasco did not find a Voting Rights Act violation in Huntsville. However, she said that the evidence shows that another Black-majority district could be created in Montgomery.
Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, Greater Birmingham Ministries and a group of Black voters were plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Legal Defense Fund and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"This decision proves that when we challenge injustice, we can make progress. Alabama must now draw fairer districts in Montgomery, but let’s be clear—leaving Huntsville untouched still denies many Black Alabamians their rightful representation," said Benard Simelton, president of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP.
He said said that while they are celebrating this win they are also demanding that, "the state finish the job and deliver maps that are fair to our communities."
State Sen. Steve Livingston, who serves as majority leader in the Alabama Senate, said the ruling was being reviewed. "At this time, we are pleased with the court’s ruling in the Huntsville area and disappointed by the ruling in the Montgomery area. We will determine next steps after a thorough review of the opinion in the coming days."
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The state could appeal the ruling.
The legislative case mirrors a long-running legal fight over the state’s congressional districts which led to a new district being created ahead of last year’s election.
The ruling will alter the legislative map around Montgomery but will not change the balance in the Alabama Legislature. Republicans hold lopsided majorities in both legislative chambers. The 35-member Alabama Senate currently has seven Black senators.
