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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy recently
3 issued a study "Intersecting Voices; Impacts of Illinois
4 Consortium on Drug Policy" finding that from 1983 to 2002, the
5 number of African Americans admitted to Illinois prisons for
6 drug offenses rose 5,347% from 185 to 10,077; the number of
7 Whites and Hispanics admitted to prison for drug offenses
8 increased 666% from 270 to 2,067; and Illinois ranked second in
9 the country with respect to Black-White disparities in prison
10 sentences for drug crimes; and
 
11     WHEREAS, The Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy in the
12 study "Intersecting Voices; Impacts of Illinois Consortium on
13 Drug Policy" reported that in 2002, 946 Caucasians were
14 incarcerated for drug sales, while the number of African
15 Americans was 4,406; and
 
16     WHEREAS, The U. S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
17 Statistics reports that nationally, in 2002, 266,465 adults
18 were arrested for drug trafficking, 212,810 were convicted of
19 felony drug trafficking, and of those convicted 51% were white
20 and 47% were black; and
 
21     WHEREAS, In 2000, half of all African Americans admitted to
22 Illinois prisons were sentenced for drug offenses, compared

 

 

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1 with 30 percent of Hispanics and 15 percent of Whites; and
 
2     WHEREAS, National studies found that Whites, African
3 Americans, and Hispanics use illegal drugs at similar rates,
4 and also that most users obtain drugs from people within their
5 own racial or ethnic background; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly has amended the
7 Illinois Controlled Substances Act on several occasions to
8 enhance penalties for anyone convicted of conducting a delivery
9 in certain areas; and
 
10     WHEREAS, The original purpose of the enhanced penalties was
11 to deter individuals from engaging in drug trafficking in areas
12 where children are present or likely to be present; and
 
13     WHEREAS, The initial step was the enhancement of the
14 penalty for anyone conducting a delivery near a school, school
15 bus stop or mode of transporting children to school; and
 
16     WHEREAS, In 1990, the General Assembly amended the Illinois
17 Controlled Substances Act to increase the penalty for delivery
18 within 1000 feet of public housing property or park, so that
19 the penalty is enhanced by automatically treating any delivery
20 under these circumstances as one felony class higher; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Under this amendment any delivery of more than one
2 gram of cocaine within 1,000 feet of public housing property is
3 treated as a Class X felony, subject to mandatory prison time,
4 regardless of whether children were present or likely to be
5 present in the vicinity of the transaction; and
 
6     WHEREAS, In 1997, automatic felony elevation was added for
7 delivery within 1000 feet of any church, synagogue or building
8 used primarily for worship regardless of whether the worshipers
9 were present or likely to be present in the vicinity of the
10 transaction; and
 
11     WHEREAS, In 2000, the provision relating to public housing
12 was expanded to include any residential property owned or
13 leased in part by a public housing agency, including mixed
14 income developments; and
 
15     WHEREAS, In November, 2005, TASC and Loyola University
16 issued the report, "The Disproportionate Incarceration of
17 African Americans for Drug Crimes: The Illinois Perspective"
18 which confirmed the disproportionate application of this
19 State's criminal drug laws, as amended during the first half of
20 the 1990s, to be a significant factor for the disparate impact
21 which these laws have on African American communities; and
 
22     WHEREAS, The TASC and Loyola University researchers

 

 

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1 concluded that these restrictions are most common in poor,
2 African American neighborhoods, which, per capita have more
3 public housing units and storefront churches than any other
4 communities in the city; and
 
5     WHEREAS, This statute which requires mandatory minimum
6 prison terms, denies judges the discretion to determine the
7 appropriate penalty on a case-by-case basis; and
 
8     WHEREAS, The Justice Policy Institute (JPI) recently
9 issued a report, "Disparity by Design: How Drug-free Zone Laws
10 Impact Racial Disparity B and Fail to Protect Youth" which
11 found that the laws that heighten penalties for drug activity
12 near schools, public housing and other designated locations
13 fail to protect youth; and
 
14     WHEREAS, JPI found that drug-free zone laws erode the
15 constitutional right to trial by forcing defendants to plead
16 guilty or risk long prison terms; and
 
17     WHEREAS, JPI also found that communities of color are
18 disproportionately impacted by drug-free school zone laws
19 because densely populated urban neighborhoods, where people of
20 color are more likely to live, are blanketed by prohibited
21 zones, while rural and suburban neighborhoods are less
22 affected; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, JPI found that in New Jersey, three-quarters of
2 Newark, and over half of Jersey City and Camden, fall within a
3 zone compared to just six percent of rural Mansfield Township
4 and the result of this "urban effect" is what New Jersey's
5 sentencing commission terms "a devastatingly disproportionate
6 impact on New Jersey's minority community"; and
 
7     WHEREAS, JPI found that in New Jersey Blacks and Hispanics
8 make up just a quarter of the state's resident population,
9 while they comprise 96% of prisoners serving time for drug-free
10 zone offenses; and
 
11     WHEREAS, JPI found that in Connecticut cities where the
12 majority of residents are nonwhite have ten times more zones
13 per square mile than localities where less than 10% of
14 residents are black or Hispanic; and
 
15     WHEREAS, JPI found that Blacks and Hispanics account for
16 just 20% of Massachusetts residents but 80% of drug-free zone
17 cases; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Utah's parole board recommended replacing the
19 drug-free zone enhancement with an enhancement for only those
20 convicted of selling or manufacturing drugs in the presence of
21 children; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, The New Jersey Sentencing Commission could find no
2 deterrent effect of the drug-free zone law; and
 
3     WHEREAS, The New Jersey Sentencing Commission found that
4 fewer than one in 10 arrests takes place just outside the
5 zones, while the number of drug-free zone arrests has risen
6 since the law was enacted, rather than falling, as would be
7 expected if drug sellers had moved their activity to avoid
8 prohibited zones; and
 
9     WHEREAS, The New Jersey, Sentencing Commission concluded
10 that the size of the zones erodes their deterrent effect and
11 recommended that zones be narrowed from 1,000 to 200 feet; and
 
12     WHEREAS, The New Jersey Sentencing Commission concluded
13 that reducing the size of prohibited zones will accomplish two
14 objectives: more effectively deter drug activity that occurs
15 within sight of schools and other protected locations; and
16 lessen the impact of mandatory sentencing on urban communities,
17 thereby reducing racial disparities; therefore, be it
 
18     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
19 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
20 there is hereby established a Legislative Task Force on Drug
21 Free Zones (the Task Force); and be it further
 

 

 

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1     RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall have six members of the
2 General Assembly, three appointed by the Speaker of the House
3 of Representatives, and 3 appointed by the Minority Leader of
4 the House of Representatives; and be it further
 
5     RESOLVED, That That the following persons shall serve
6 without compensation as ex-officio, non-voting members of the
7 Task Force:
8         (A) The Director of the Division of Alcoholism and
9     Substance Abuse, or his or her designee;
10         (B) The Director of the Illinois Department of
11     Corrections, or his or her designee;
12         (C) The Public Defender of Cook County or his or her
13     designee;
14         (D) The State's Attorney of Cook County or his or her
15     designee;
16         (E) The Director of the Illinois Department of Children
17     and Family Services, or his or her designee;
18         (F) The State Appellate Defender, or his or her
19     designee; and
20         (G) The Director of the Office of the State's Attorneys
21     Appellate Prosecutor, or his or her designee; and be it
22     further
 
23     RESOLVED, That the agencies of State and County governments

 

 

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1 represented on the Task Force shall work cooperatively to
2 provide administrative support for the Task Force; the Illinois
3 Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse shall be the primary
4 agency in providing that support; and be it further
 
5     RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall conduct hearings and
6 complete a comprehensive examination of the State's laws which
7 were intended to create drug free zones to determine: (a) the
8 effectiveness of the laws, (b) whether these laws have a
9 disparate impact on African American communities, and (c)
10 whether these laws should be amended to (i) more effectively
11 deter drug activity that occurs within sight of schools and
12 other protected locations; and (ii) lessen the impact of
13 mandatory sentencing on urban communities, thereby reducing
14 racial disparities; and be it further
 
15     RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall report its findings and
16 recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly in a
17 final report which shall be filed on or before November 1,
18 2007; the requirement for reporting to the General Assembly
19 shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the
20 Speaker, the Minority Leader and the Clerk of the House of
21 Representatives and the President, the Minority Leader and the
22 Secretary of the Senate and the Legislative Research Unit, as
23 required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization
24 Act, and filing additional copies with the State Government

 

 

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1 Report Distribution Center for the General Assembly as required
2 under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State Library Act; the
3 report shall include, but need not be limited to, the
4 following:
5         (1) An assessment of the collateral consequences of the
6     state's laws which were intended to create drug free zones;
7         (2) An assessment of the effectiveness of these laws;
8         (3) An assessment as to whether these laws have a
9     disparate impact on African Americans;
10         (4) An assessment as to whether these laws tend to
11     erode the constitutional right to trial by forcing
12     defendants to plead guilty or risk long prison terms; and
13         (5) Recommendations for legislative changes necessary
14     to correct those problems (if any) identified by the panel.