Full Text of HR1210 94th General Assembly
HR1210 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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LRB094 20237 HSS 58141 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The adult female prison population in the State of | 3 |
| Illinois more than quadrupled over the past 20 years to 2,725 | 4 |
| at the end of 2005; and
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| WHEREAS, The rate of growth of the women's prison | 6 |
| population in Illinois has been twice that of men's since 1994; | 7 |
| and | 8 |
| WHEREAS, Of this population, less than 30% of these women | 9 |
| were incarcerated for committing violent crimes; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, Cook County Jail currently houses about 1,300 | 11 |
| women on any given day and, of this population, approximately | 12 |
| 90% are charged with non-violent crimes; and | 13 |
| WHEREAS, In prisons in the State of Illinois, 82% of women | 14 |
| are mothers and almost 50% have children under five years of | 15 |
| age; and | 16 |
| WHEREAS, Each year at least 25,000 children in the State of | 17 |
| Illinois are impacted by maternal incarceration; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, In the State of Illinois, at least 60,000 minor | 19 |
| children will have their mothers spend time in a State prison | 20 |
| while they are children; and
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| WHEREAS, An estimated 80% of all incarcerated women in the | 22 |
| State of Illinois suffer from substance abuse problems; | 23 |
| however, the State of Illinois can place fewer than 20% of all | 24 |
| incarcerated women into its substance abuse programs; and
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| WHEREAS, It is a known fact that drug addiction causes | 26 |
| crime, destroys the family structure, creates havoc in | 27 |
| neighborhoods, and leaves paths of destruction in its wake; |
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HR1210 |
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LRB094 20237 HSS 58141 r |
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| individuals convicted of crimes who have not received | 2 |
| meaningful treatment while incarcerated continue to commit | 3 |
| offenses; and
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| WHEREAS, In the United States by the end of 2004, women | 5 |
| were 9.4% percent of all prison and jail inmates, up from 6.1% | 6 |
| in 1995; and
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| WHEREAS, Community-based alternatives to incarceration for | 8 |
| women convicted of non-violent offenses would allow children to | 9 |
| stay with their mothers while their mothers receive appropriate | 10 |
| treatment; with the appropriate treatment, the mothers would be | 11 |
| less likely to commit additional offenses and would be able to | 12 |
| re-enter society as tax-paying citizens; in addition, their | 13 |
| children would be less likely to become the next generation of | 14 |
| incarcerated individuals; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 16 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 17 |
| we recognize May 12, 2006, as Mothers in Prison, Children in | 18 |
| Crisis Day in the State of Illinois; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 20 |
| presented to Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers | 21 |
| (CLAIM).
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