HR0327 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0327 LRB100 12467 MST 25367 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate the Chicago Tribune for winning the 2016 Worth Bingham Prize and receiving 2017 Pulitzer Prize Finalist recognition for Investigative Journalism; and

WHEREAS, The Chicago Tribune received the prestigious recognition from Harvard for its three-part series, "Suffering in Secret"; the result of a yearlong investigation into the abuse and neglect of adults with disabilities in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The report identified 1,311 cases of documented harm since July of 2011, and determined at least 42 deaths linked to abuse or neglect in group homes or their day programs over the last seven years; and

WHEREAS, Tribune reporters, Michael J. Berens and Patricia Callahan, revealed mistreatment inside Illinois taxpayer-funded group homes and their day programs; and

WHEREAS, The Tribune articles came to light thanks to the Murray Parents Association, which worked with the newspaper to expose the abuse and neglect which took place in group homes throughout the State; and

WHEREAS, In the course of their reporting, Berens and Callahan worked with more than 100 Freedom of Information Act requests, thousands of pages of court records, investigative files from multiple agencies, state email records, law enforcement reports, and medical records to identify cases and patterns of abuse; and

WHEREAS, The Chicago Tribune staff worked as a team to produce the series which includes reporters, Michael J. Berens and Patricia Callahan; investigations editor, George Papajohn; watchdog editor, Kaarin Tisue; photographer, John J. Kim; copy editor, Colleen Kujawa; digital design and presentation editor, Rebecca Halleck; assistant data and graphics editor, Ryan Marx; and visuals editor, Andrew Johnston; and

WHEREAS, The 2016 Worth Bingham Prize will be presented to the Chicago Tribune on May 4, 2017 at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts; this year marks the 50th anniversary of the prize, which many of the country's best investigative reporters have won since the award was established in 1967; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the Chicago Tribune staff for winning the 2016 Worth Bingham Prize and receiving 2017 Pulitzer Prize Finalist recognition for Investigative Journalism; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune reporters, Michael J. Berens and Patricia Callahan, and the Murray Parents Association as a symbol of our esteem and respect.