Full Text of HR0013 101st General Assembly
HR0013 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of former | 4 | | Illinois State Representative and State Senator Tom Johnson, | 5 | | who passed away on December 3, 2018 at the age of 73; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Johnson was born in California on April 30, | 7 | | 1945 and grew up in South Dakota and Illinois; he was raised in | 8 | | a Christian household, the son of an ordained minister, Wallace | 9 | | Johnson; he graduated from Oak Lawn Community High School in | 10 | | 1963; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Johnson married his sweetheart, Virginia | 12 | | "Ginger" Van Der Molen;
they began a life together that | 13 | | produced three sons, Soren, Derek, and Kirk, and grew to | 14 | | include three daughters-in-law and
many grandchildren; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Johnson served in the U.S. Army from 1966 to | 16 | | 1968, which included service in the
Vietnam War from 1967 to | 17 | | 1968; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, After his military service, Sen. Johnson | 19 | | continued his education; he earned a bachelor's
degree in | 20 | | political science from the University of Michigan in 1970 and a | 21 | | doctorate of law from DePaul
University in 1974; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, As a young Illinois lawyer, Sen. Johnson joined | 2 | | the office of the DuPage County State's
Attorney's office and | 3 | | gained experience as a prosecutor; he co-founded the | 4 | | partnership of Johnson & Westra in 1979; these were boom years
| 5 | | in DuPage County, and he developed professional standing and | 6 | | provided for his family; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Johnson entered politics and, in 1992, was | 8 | | elected to the Illinois House of
Representatives; after taking | 9 | | office in January of 1993, he specialized in issues of criminal | 10 | | law; he served as chairman of the House Judiciary - Criminal | 11 | | Law Committee in the 89th General Assembly in 1995 and 1996; | 12 | | and | 13 | | WHEREAS, During his tenure as chairman of this key | 14 | | committee, it moved numerous
laws that remain on the statute | 15 | | books of Illinois, including the Sex Offender Registration Act; | 16 | | it pioneered laws to expand victim's rights and create the new | 17 | | offense of criminal streetgang
racketeering; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, One of the foremost achievements of Sen. Johnson's | 19 | | Judiciary Committee was the
enactment of a Truth in Sentencing | 20 | | law to better match the public time of a sentence passed upon a
| 21 | | defendant at trial with the actual length of time the defendant | 22 | | would actually serve in prison upon his
or her final |
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| 1 | | adjudication as a convicted person; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Johnson continued his interest in criminal | 3 | | law after leaving the House of Representatives in
2003; he was | 4 | | appointed to serve on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, where | 5 | | he was able to not
only hear from individual prisoners and | 6 | | their guards, but also to investigate operational problems of
| 7 | | the Illinois Department of Corrections; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Johnson combined being tough on crime with | 9 | | genuine compassion for those whose
lives had gone wrong; he | 10 | | backed the award of good-conduct credits, a program of rewards | 11 | | for good
conduct shown by some prisoners, that led to their | 12 | | early release from state prisons; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, As a lawmaker and advocate, Sen. Johnson was a | 14 | | fighter for
the Illinois pioneering system of juvenile justice, | 15 | | which has turned the lives of many troubled young
Illinoisans | 16 | | around and given them the chance to set their feet on pathways | 17 | | that move away from lives
of crime and despair; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Johnson served not only in the Illinois House | 19 | | of Representatives, but also in the
Illinois Senate from 2011 | 20 | | to 2013 as an appointed member following a vacancy; he was thus | 21 | | a member of both houses of the Illinois General Assembly and of | 22 | | the executive branch through
his 14-year tenure on the Prisoner |
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| 1 | | Review Board; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Johnson was a member of Wheaton Bible Church; | 3 | | his faith guided many of the
policy decisions and advocacy | 4 | | points for which he fought throughout his life; therefore, be | 5 | | it
| 6 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 7 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 8 | | we mourn the passing of former Illinois State Representative | 9 | | and State Senator Tom Johnson and extend our sincere | 10 | | condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved | 11 | | him; and be it further
| 12 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 13 | | presented to Virginia "Ginger" Van Der Molen
Johnson, the wife | 14 | | of the late Sen. Johnson, and his family.
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