Full Text of HR0233 94th General Assembly
HR0233 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HR0233 |
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LRB094 11747 CSA 43804 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The adult female population in prisons in the | 3 |
| State of Illinois was 2,806 in 2004, a 154 percent increase | 4 |
| over the past ten years; and
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| WHEREAS, Of this population, less than 30 percent of these | 6 |
| female prisoners were incarcerated for committing violent | 7 |
| crimes; and
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| WHEREAS, Cook County Jail currently houses over 1,300 women | 9 |
| on any given day and, of this population, approximately 90 | 10 |
| percent are charged with non-violent crimes; and
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| WHEREAS, In prisons in the State of Illinois, 82 percent of | 12 |
| women are mothers and almost 50 percent have children under | 13 |
| five years of age; and
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| WHEREAS, Each year at least 25,000 children in the State of | 15 |
| Illinois are impacted by maternal incarceration; and
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| WHEREAS, In the State of Illinois, at least 60,000 minor | 17 |
| children will have their mothers spend time in a State prison | 18 |
| while they are children; and
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| WHEREAS, An estimated 80 percent of all incarcerated women | 20 |
| in the State of Illinois suffer from substance abuse problems; | 21 |
| the State of Illinois can place fewer than 20 percent of all | 22 |
| incarcerated women into its substance abuse programs; and
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| WHEREAS, It is a known fact that drug addiction causes | 24 |
| crime, destroys the family structure, creates havoc in | 25 |
| neighborhoods, and leaves paths of destruction in its wake; | 26 |
| individuals convicted of crimes who have not received | 27 |
| meaningful treatment while incarcerated continue to commit | 28 |
| crimes; and
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HR0233 |
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LRB094 11747 CSA 43804 r |
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| WHEREAS, In the United States, by mid-year of 2003, the | 2 |
| number of adult female inmates rose 6.3 percent over the | 3 |
| previous year; and
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| WHEREAS, Community-based alternatives to incarceration for | 5 |
| women convicted of non-violent offenses would allow children to | 6 |
| stay with their mothers while their mothers receive appropriate | 7 |
| treatment; with the appropriate treatment, the mothers would be | 8 |
| less likely to commit additional offenses and would be able to | 9 |
| re-enter society as tax-paying citizens; in addition, their | 10 |
| children would be less likely to become the next generation of | 11 |
| incarcerated individuals; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 13 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 14 |
| we recognize May 6, 2005, as Mothers in Prison, Children in | 15 |
| Crisis Day in the State of Illinois; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 17 |
| presented to Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers | 18 |
| (CLAIM).
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