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46 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. i (2025-2026)

handle is hein.journals/niulr46 and id is 1 raw text is: NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW VOLUME 46 FALL 2025 NUMBER 1 CONTENTS ARTICLES Candid Traffic Cameras: Why Illinois's Automated License Plate Reader System Should be Restricted M ich ael L ath w ell ........................................................................................................ . 1 This article examines the constitutionality of automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras. ALPR cameras are permanently affixed on the highway and record the license plate number of every passing vehicle. The system is used by police to locate stolen vehicles, track fleeing suspects, and for other crime prevention purposes. In 2019, the Tamara Clayton Expressway Camera Act was passed by the Illinois General Assembly, which allowed for the installation of these cameras in Illinois. But the constitutionality of these cameras has been challenged as a Fourth Amendment violation, because although the camera network has many valid purposes, it also poses a privacy concern. The camera records can be strung together to reconstruct a citizen's everyday movements. Someone with access to the system could potentially identify what medical providers someone goes to, what church they go to, and even their political affiliation. These camera networks can be hacked and are also subject to misuse by the police. Thus, the legislation needs to be amended to restrict the number ofcameras used, shorten the time period by which photos are kept, and to implement sharing restrictions. Hey, Bruh . . . I Mean, Your Honor-The Evolution (or Devolution) of Legal Communications in Modern Times Michael J. Fleck ..............................................................................................................26 The ability to effectively communicate, whether such communication is oral or written, is a primary tool in any lawyer's toolbox. How we communicate is a reflection on our level of professionalism, both as individual attorneys, and as the legal body at large. It is how we convey ideas with our client, with our colleague, and with the court. It is how we persuade through legal reasoning. There is no doubt that the style of communication has evolved over time. One need only to read legal opinions from a century ago to see what was acceptable as proper communication. The standard has reflected on some level the way we generally speak in society. Those legal opinions read more like a Shakespearean play than a legal analysis of the issues presented. Modern legal opinions in general seem easier to follow in that they are laid out in a way that we currently speak in society presenting the issue, the underlying facts, the legal standards, the analysis, and the application to the case at bar in a way that makes it clear what the court is holding. Modern legal opinion writing looks nothing like its ancestor, and yet it is considered highly acceptable and professional communication by today's 1