To protect the identities of child and adult sex crime victims, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Y. Martinez partnered with former colleagues Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) and Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) on two proposals that were signed into law on Friday. The measures came to fruition after a CBS 2 story identified issues that were left unresolved under the previous Circuit Court Clerk’s administration. Currently, the Privacy of Child Victims of Criminal Sexual Offenses Act requires the identity of any child sex offense victims be restricted. However, it does not specify how it should be done. The need to clarify this law inspired the decision to expand privacy protections to adult victims. Senate Bills 2339 and 2340 would require anyone wanting to access restricted information to petition the court to gain access to those documents. Both measures will go into effect January 1.