Full Text of SR0613 97th General Assembly
SR0613 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are deeply | 3 | | sorry to learn of the death of Jay A. Miller of Evanston; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Jay Miller served as the Executive Director of the | 5 | | American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois for more than | 6 | | 25 years; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Jay Miller worked as a journalist in Cleveland and | 8 | | a union organizer for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of | 9 | | America before moving to Chicago to join the Midwest office of | 10 | | the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC); and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Jay Miller led a campaign for the AFSC aimed at | 12 | | securing ratification of a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and helped | 13 | | to organize a rally for the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, | 14 | | Jr. at Chicago's Soldier Field; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Jay Miller became the executive director of the | 16 | | ACLU of Illinois in 1965, when the organization had a staff of | 17 | | four and budget of less than $50,000, and soon led the | 18 | | organization to new and innovative cases, including | 19 | | desegregation of the Waukegan Public Schools, challenges to | 20 | | racial segregation in public housing, and defending the rights | 21 | | of protestors at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in |
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| 1 | | Chicago; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Jay Miller took a prominent role in challenging | 3 | | the police accounts of the shooting of Black Panther Fred | 4 | | Hampton, leading to the revelation of the true facts of that | 5 | | problem; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Jay Miller became a prominent voice for civil | 7 | | liberties in the State, traveled to every corner of the State | 8 | | to meet with ACLU members and others, and became a regular | 9 | | voice defending civil liberties in the media across Illinois, | 10 | | often invoking his own colorful rhetoric; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Jay Miller's vision and managerial skills, | 12 | | combined with his fierce passion for civil liberties, built the | 13 | | modern ACLU of Illinois, providing resources for the | 14 | | organization to take on early cases protecting the rights of | 15 | | persons with AIDS and HIV, ensuring fundamental rights for | 16 | | lesbians and gay men, worked to reform a decrepit and dangerous | 17 | | child welfare system and the Illinois Department of Mental | 18 | | Health, and challenged racial profiling and other racial | 19 | | discrimination across the State of Illinois; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Jay Miller is survived by his wife, Lou Kaplan; | 21 | | and his children: Josh Miller, Adam Miller, and Rebecca Miller; | 22 | | therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 2 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 3 | | his family and friends, the passing of Jay Miller; and be it | 4 | | further
| 5 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 6 | | presented to the family of Jay Miller as a symbol of our | 7 | | sincere sympathy.
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