HR0820 LRB093 21848 KEF 49807 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives were saddened to learn of the death of Anthony
4 Scariano on April 17, 2004; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Mr. Scariano was an attorney who previously served
6 as a State Representative, assistant federal prosecutor, State
7 racing board chairman, Illinois appellate court justice, and
8 head of commissions aimed at improving the judiciary and
9 nominating candidates; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Mr. Scariano was born January 12, 1918, on
11 Chicago's North Side; he attended Lane Tech High School and
12 graduated from Wells High School; after beginning college, he
13 served as an intelligence officer in the Office of Strategic
14 Services, the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency, in
15 northern Italy during World War II; and
 
16     WHEREAS, After the war, Mr. Scariano graduated from
17 Georgetown University's law school; while attending school in
18 Washington, he also worked as a guard at the Capitol and for
19 United States Senator Scott Lucas (D-Illinois); and
 
20     WHEREAS, From 1949 to 1954, Mr. Scariano served as an
21 assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, where he eventually became
22 head of the civil division; in 1956, he was first elected to
23 the Illinois House from the south suburbs; and
 
24     WHEREAS, During his tenure as a State lawmaker, which began
25 in the mid-1950s, Mr. Scariano banded with a small group of
26 independent Democrats who practiced what they called
27 common-sense liberalism as they rebelled against the stifling
28 political control of the day to push for government reform;
29 demonstrating his stand against the political status quo, he
30 was one of the architects of the State's first Open Meetings

 

 

HR0820 - 2 - LRB093 21848 KEF 49807 r

1 Act, aimed at providing the sunshine of public disclosure and
2 input into the often-secretive closed-door meetings where
3 government business was transacted; and
 
4     WHEREAS, In 1985, he was appointed to the State appellate
5 court; he was then elected to a 10-year term on the court the
6 next year; though he retired from the bench in 1996, he
7 remained active in politics and an adamant supporter of
8 selecting judges based on merit appointment rather than
9 Illinois' system of an elected judiciary; in December 2002, Mr.
10 Scariano was among a group of judges who urged then Governor
11 George Ryan to push for dramatic reforms in the State's capital
12 punishment system and urged Governor Ryan to grant clemency to
13 those sentenced to death; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Mr. Scariano also was a founding member of the
15 Sicilian American Cultural Association, of which he also served
16 as president; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The passing of Anthony Scariano will be deeply
18 felt by many, especially his wife of 61 years, Leah; his sons,
19 Anthony and John; his two brothers, John and Joseph; his
20 sister, Marie Makowski; and his two grandchildren; and
 
21     WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his daughter, Mary
22 Phyllis Scariano; therefore, be it
 
23     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
24 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
25 mourn the death of Anthony Scariano along with all who knew and
26 loved him and extend our sincere condolences to his family,
27 friends, and community; and be it further
 
28     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
29 presented to the family of Anthony Scariano as an expression of
30 our deepest sympathy.