Full Text of HR1161 94th General Assembly
HR1161 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Untreated drug offenders are the cause of crime in | 3 |
| many of our communities and those communities across Illinois | 4 |
| become "victims" as a result of State policy of incarcerating | 5 |
| and not treating low-level non-violent offenders; and
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| WHEREAS, The answer for reducing crime is both to change | 7 |
| public perception and legislative strategies so that low-level | 8 |
| drug use is perceived and treated as a public and mental health | 9 |
| issue and to require a prevention strategy; and
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| WHEREAS, Communities are alarmed at the high rate of drug | 11 |
| offenders returning to Illinois communities without | 12 |
| rehabilitation and stripped of employment, housing, and | 13 |
| education prospects, creating volatile conditions in our | 14 |
| neighborhoods; and
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| WHEREAS, These barriers to employment, housing, education, | 16 |
| and other basic needs force many non-violent drug offenders | 17 |
| into a cycle of escalating criminal activity; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, The Developing Justice Coalition, a statewide | 19 |
| alliance of dozens of community groups, and other | 20 |
| community-level organizations are working together with | 21 |
| legislators, the business community, bar associations, and | 22 |
| academia to define and combat the critical public safety | 23 |
| problems that are proliferated across the State by the cycle of | 24 |
| untreated drug abuse, violence, incarceration, and barriers to | 25 |
| prisoner reentry; and
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| WHEREAS, This cycle threatens the very foundation of our | 27 |
| communities as more families are devastated by untreated drug | 28 |
| addictions, while the process of incarceration and reentry has | 29 |
| become commonplace and a major eroding factor in some Illinois | 30 |
| communities; and
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HR1161 |
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| WHEREAS, Illinois spends millions of dollars each year | 2 |
| incarcerating the same nonviolent drug offenders, many of whom | 3 |
| cycle in and out of prison on an ongoing basis at great expense | 4 |
| to the taxpayers; and
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| WHEREAS, Every year, the number of arrests for drug | 6 |
| offenses is increasing, with over 70,000 people arrested for | 7 |
| drug offenses in Illinois in 2004; and | 8 |
| WHEREAS, Every year, counties send a new record number of | 9 |
| admission of non-violent drug offenders to Illinois State | 10 |
| prisons; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, In 2005 alone, more than 11,000 people were | 12 |
| imprisoned in Illinois for low-level, nonviolent drug offenses | 13 |
| at a cost of more than $249 million annually; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, Illinois law currently contains provision for | 15 |
| diversion away from prison toward more effective treatment, but | 16 |
| the existing laws are either inadequate, improperly applied, or | 17 |
| lack resources for implementation; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, In FY 2005, a record number of nearly 40,000 | 19 |
| people were released into Illinois communities with little or | 20 |
| no resources, and tens of thousands of the ex-offenders | 21 |
| returned to Illinois neighborhoods with untreated drug | 22 |
| addictions; and | 23 |
| WHEREAS, In 2005, with the recidivism rate of 54.6%, most | 24 |
| non-violent drug offenders will return to prison within three | 25 |
| years; and | 26 |
| WHEREAS, Members of the Developing Justice Coalition have | 27 |
| come to understand that we cannot arrest ourselves out of this | 28 |
| problem, nor can we cure addicted people by warehousing them; |
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| and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, There is a need to examine the creation of a | 3 |
| system of sanctions that utilizes diversion in appropriate | 4 |
| cases and reduces the escalating cost of Corrections by | 5 |
| eliminating mandatory sentencing and incarceration for | 6 |
| low-level nonviolent drug offenses and provides the universal | 7 |
| option of treatment, counseling, and community service instead | 8 |
| and wishes to explore whether such a system will save valuable | 9 |
| state funds, increase the public safety in our communities, | 10 |
| reduce the state prison population, and help low-level | 11 |
| nonviolent drug offenders learn to function as profitable | 12 |
| members of our communities; therefore, be it | 13 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 14 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 15 |
| we congratulate the Developing Justice Coalition in its efforts | 16 |
| to encourage participation in a series of public hearings | 17 |
| beginning in May, 2006, aimed at defining the depth of the | 18 |
| problems associated with untreated drug addictions and to find | 19 |
| ways to identify resources to support treatment, to identify | 20 |
| policy changes that can improve diversion opportunities and | 21 |
| outcomes, and to develop solutions that will address the public | 22 |
| safety concerns of residents of Illinois communities; and be it | 23 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this Resolution be | 25 |
| presented to the Developing Justice Coalition.
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