HR1541 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1541 LRB094 22089 MST 60705 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois learned with regret of the death of David Saxner on Thursday, November 23, 2006; and

WHEREAS, He was united in marriage to his wife, Rikke; and

WHEREAS, He shared his commitment, generosity, sensitivity and concern for those behind bars with everyone who knew him; he started teaching a class on law at Stateville in the mid seventies; during this time David became a tireless advocate for the parole of a particular "C#" prisoner, and later expanded his work to support the parole of all C# prisoners; and

WHEREAS, When the Pontiac rebellion happened in 1978, David became a legal worker and political supporter of the 17 Pontiac Brothers charged with death penalty offenses; it was partly through his tireless work that all were eventually acquitted; and

WHEREAS, David developed The Campaign in Support of C# Prisoners to help all prisoners subject to parole (those convicted before 1978, known as "C number prisoners" because of their prison identification numbers); he recruited lawyers to help these prisoners, trained them in how to handle parole hearings, and attended hearings of the Prisoner Review Board in an attempt to open up their process to the public; and

WHEREAS, David encouraged everyone he came into contact with to educate themselves on the plight of C# prisoners, and urged them to join him in the effort to change the law and the practice which had resulted in C# prisoners serving sentences almost twice as long as prisoners with determinate sentences; to this end he tirelessly catalogued the activities of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board; his doggedness played a key role in not only the eventual parole of James Sayles but of many Illinois prisoners languishing behind bars many years after they should have been released; and

WHEREAS, To date, David's C# Campaign has succeeded in actively participating in and influencing the release on parole of more than 50 C#'s, facilitating the release from parole of another 40 people, developed a parole training manual for the families and anyone else who could use it,researching, writing, and disseminating a vast amount of literature to the community and educating thousands of people about indeterminate sentencing, parole, the Illinois prison system, and related issues, organizing and training lawyers and law students to take parole cases, have developed a six-hour web site presentation, and a 100-page manual, to train lawyers and law students in this work, regularly attended en banc hearings on parole decision-making held in Springfield-including providing family members and friends with transportation, funds for hotels, etc, setting up Town Hall meetings and other educational events for the community to have contact with representatives of the Governor, Attorney General, State's Attorney, the DOC, PRB, legislators, and others, hosting an annual C# family picnic as well as an annual Christmas fundraiser benefit, developed recommendations relating to parole and the Prisoner Review Board for Governor Rod Blagojevich, assisting prisoners in transferring closer to their families, and intervening in numerous medical cases with success; and

WHEREAS, David maintained his humor, sensitivity, and warmth, in everything he did; he walked the walk, not for himself, but for others, especially those incarcerated with whom he felt a bond; and

WHEREAS, He was a bord member of The John Howard Association of Illinois, and an officer and board member of the Long Term Prisoner Policy Project; he and his wife ran a very successful business, but his happiness came from the charity work he was involved with for many years; and

WHEREAS, The passing of David Saxner has been deeply felt by many, especially is wife, Rikke; he was a remarkable husband, father, brother, son, friend, and advocate; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of David Saxner, and we extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to his family as an expression of our deepest sympathy.