HR0715 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0715 LRB097 17700 KXB 63023 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are deeply sorry to learn of the death of Jay A. Miller of Evanston; and

WHEREAS, Jay Miller served as the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois for more than 25 years; and

WHEREAS, Jay Miller worked as a journalist in Cleveland and a union organizer for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America before moving to Chicago to join the Midwest office of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC); and

WHEREAS, Jay Miller led a campaign for the AFSC aimed at securing ratification of a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and helped to organize a rally for the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. at Chicago's Soldier Field; and

WHEREAS, Jay Miller became the executive director of the ACLU of Illinois in 1965, when the organization had a staff of four and budget of less than $50,000, and soon led the organization to new and innovative cases, including desegregation of the Waukegan Public Schools, challenges to racial segregation in public housing, and defending the rights of protestors at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Jay Miller took a prominent role in challenging the police accounts of the shooting of Black Panther Fred Hampton, leading to the revelation of the true facts of that problem; and

WHEREAS, Jay Miller became a prominent voice for civil liberties in the State, traveled to every corner of the State to meet with ACLU members and others, and became a regular voice defending civil liberties in the media across Illinois, often invoking his own colorful rhetoric; and

WHEREAS, Jay Miller's vision and managerial skills, combined with his fierce passion for civil liberties, built the modern ACLU of Illinois, providing resources for the organization to take on early cases protecting the rights of persons with AIDS and HIV, ensuring fundamental rights for lesbians and gay men, worked to reform a decrepit and dangerous child welfare system and the Illinois Department of Mental Health, and challenged racial profiling and other racial discrimination across the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Jay Miller is survived by his wife, Lou Kaplan; and his children: Josh Miller, Adam Miller; and Rebecca Miller; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Jay Miller; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Jay Miller and to the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.