From the November-December 2019 issue of News & Letters

Chicago—The Illinois National Organization for Women (NOW) 2019 Conference, “Women, Justice and the Justice System,” met on the weekend of Oct. 12. It explored many areas of the criminal injustice system where imprisoned women—of color, Queer, young and old, documented and undocumented—experience violence. The big push was for the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was allowed to expire this spring.

The House passed it but the challenge will be in the Senate, where Republican senators are held willing captive by the National Rifle Association which is for the “boyfriend loophole,” which would allow guns to physically abusive ex-boyfriends and stalkers with previous convictions. The House bill does not include the “boyfriend loophole.”

—Elise