Full Text of HR1541 94th General Assembly
HR1541 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the | 3 |
| State of Illinois learned with regret of the death of David | 4 |
| Saxner on Thursday, November 23, 2006; and
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| WHEREAS, He was united in marriage to his wife, Rikke; and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, He shared his commitment, generosity, sensitivity | 7 |
| and concern for those behind bars with everyone who knew him; | 8 |
| he started teaching a class on law at Stateville in the mid | 9 |
| seventies; during this time David became a tireless advocate | 10 |
| for the parole of a particular "C#" prisoner, and later | 11 |
| expanded his work to support the parole of all C# prisoners; | 12 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, When the Pontiac rebellion happened in 1978, David | 14 |
| became a legal worker and political supporter of the 17 Pontiac | 15 |
| Brothers charged with death penalty offenses; it was partly | 16 |
| through his tireless work that all were eventually acquitted; | 17 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, David developed The Campaign in Support of C# | 19 |
| Prisoners to help all prisoners subject to parole (those | 20 |
| convicted before 1978, known as "C number prisoners" because of | 21 |
| their prison identification numbers); he recruited lawyers to | 22 |
| help these prisoners, trained them in how to handle parole | 23 |
| hearings, and attended hearings of the Prisoner Review Board in | 24 |
| an attempt to open up their process to the public; and
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| WHEREAS, David encouraged everyone he came into contact | 26 |
| with to educate themselves on the plight of C# prisoners, and | 27 |
| urged them to join him in the effort to change the law and the | 28 |
| practice which had resulted in C# prisoners serving sentences | 29 |
| almost twice as long as prisoners with determinate sentences; | 30 |
| to this end he tirelessly catalogued the activities of the |
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| Illinois Prisoner Review Board; his doggedness played a key | 2 |
| role in not only the eventual parole of James Sayles but of | 3 |
| many Illinois prisoners languishing behind bars many years | 4 |
| after they should have been released; and
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| WHEREAS, To date, David's C# Campaign has succeeded in | 6 |
| actively participating in and influencing the release on parole | 7 |
| of more than 50 C#'s, facilitating the release from parole of | 8 |
| another 40 people, developed a parole training manual for the | 9 |
| families and anyone else who could use it,researching, writing, | 10 |
| and disseminating a vast amount of literature to the community | 11 |
| and educating thousands of people about indeterminate | 12 |
| sentencing, parole, the Illinois prison system, and related | 13 |
| issues, organizing and training lawyers and law students to | 14 |
| take parole cases, have developed a six-hour web site | 15 |
| presentation, and a 100-page manual, to train lawyers and law | 16 |
| students in this work, regularly attended en banc hearings on | 17 |
| parole decision-making held in Springfield-including providing | 18 |
| family members and friends with transportation, funds for | 19 |
| hotels, etc, setting up Town Hall meetings and other | 20 |
| educational events for the community to have contact with | 21 |
| representatives of the Governor, Attorney General, State's | 22 |
| Attorney, the DOC, PRB, legislators, and others, hosting an | 23 |
| annual C# family picnic as well as an annual Christmas | 24 |
| fundraiser benefit, developed recommendations relating to | 25 |
| parole and the Prisoner Review Board for Governor Rod | 26 |
| Blagojevich, assisting prisoners in transferring closer to | 27 |
| their families, and intervening in numerous medical cases with | 28 |
| success; and | 29 |
| WHEREAS, David maintained his humor, sensitivity, and | 30 |
| warmth, in everything he did; he walked the walk, not for | 31 |
| himself, but for others, especially those incarcerated with | 32 |
| whom he felt a bond; and | 33 |
| WHEREAS, He was a bord member of The John Howard |
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| Association of Illinois, and an officer and board member of the | 2 |
| Long Term Prisoner Policy Project; he and his wife ran a very | 3 |
| successful business, but his happiness came from the charity | 4 |
| work he was involved with for many years; and | 5 |
| WHEREAS, The passing of David Saxner has been deeply felt | 6 |
| by many, especially is wife, Rikke; he was a remarkable | 7 |
| husband, father, brother, son, friend, and advocate; | 8 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 10 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 11 |
| we mourn the passing of David Saxner, and we extend our sincere | 12 |
| condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved | 13 |
| him; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 15 |
| presented to his family as an expression of our deepest | 16 |
| sympathy.
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