State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_HR0240

 
                                               LRB9208658RHrh

 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The adult female population in  prisons  in  the
 3    State of Illinois was 2,892 in 2000, a 161.2 percent increase
 4    over the past ten years; and

 5        WHEREAS, Of this population less than 30 percent of these
 6    female  prisoners  were  incarcerated  for committing violent
 7    crimes; and

 8        WHEREAS, Cook County Jail currently  houses  about  1,200
 9    women  on any given day, and of this population approximately
10    90 percent are charged with non-violent crimes; and

11        WHEREAS, In prisons in the State of Illinois, 80  percent
12    of  women  are  mothers  and  almost 50 percent have children
13    under five years of age; and

14        WHEREAS, Each year at least 25,000 children in the  State
15    of Illinois are impacted by maternal incarceration; and

16        WHEREAS,  An  estimated  80  percent  of all incarcerated
17    women in the State of Illinois suffer  from  substance  abuse
18    problems;  the State of Illinois can place only 12 percent of
19    all incarcerated women into its substance abuse programs; and

20        WHEREAS, It is a known fact that  drug  addiction  causes
21    crime,  destroys  the  family  structure,  creates  havoc  in
22    neighborhoods,  and  leaves paths of destruction in its wake;
23    individuals  convicted  of  crimes  who  have  not   received
24    meaningful  treatment  while  incarcerated continue to commit
25    crimes; and

26        WHEREAS, Community-based  alternatives  to  incarceration
27    for  women  convicted  of  non-violent  offenses  would allow
28    children to stay  with  their  mothers  while  their  mothers
29    receive appropriate treatment; with the appropriate treatment
30    the  mothers  would  be  less  likely  to  commit  additional
 
                            -2-                LRB9208658RHrh
 1    offenses  and would be able to re-enter society as tax-paying
 2    citizens; in addition, their children would be less likely to
 3    become  the  next  generation  of  incarcerated  individuals;
 4    therefore, be it

 5        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
 6    NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
 7    we  recognize  May 14, 2001 as Mothers in Prison, Children in
 8    Crisis Day in the State of Illinois; and be it further

 9        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
10    presented  to  Chicago  Legal  Aid  to  Incarcerated  Mothers
11    (C.L.A.I.M.).

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