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HR1541 |
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LRB094 22089 MST 60705 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the |
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| State of Illinois learned with regret of the death of David |
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| Saxner on Thursday, November 23, 2006; and
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| WHEREAS, He was united in marriage to his wife, Rikke; and |
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| WHEREAS, He shared his commitment, generosity, sensitivity |
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| and concern for those behind bars with everyone who knew him; |
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| he started teaching a class on law at Stateville in the mid |
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| seventies; during this time David became a tireless advocate |
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| for the parole of a particular "C#" prisoner, and later |
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| expanded his work to support the parole of all C# prisoners; |
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| and
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| WHEREAS, When the Pontiac rebellion happened in 1978, David |
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| became a legal worker and political supporter of the 17 Pontiac |
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| Brothers charged with death penalty offenses; it was partly |
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| through his tireless work that all were eventually acquitted; |
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| and
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| WHEREAS, David developed The Campaign in Support of C# |
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| Prisoners to help all prisoners subject to parole (those |
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| convicted before 1978, known as "C number prisoners" because of |
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| their prison identification numbers); he recruited lawyers to |
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| help these prisoners, trained them in how to handle parole |
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| hearings, and attended hearings of the Prisoner Review Board in |
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| an attempt to open up their process to the public; and
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| WHEREAS, David encouraged everyone he came into contact |
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| with to educate themselves on the plight of C# prisoners, and |
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| urged them to join him in the effort to change the law and the |
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| practice which had resulted in C# prisoners serving sentences |
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| almost twice as long as prisoners with determinate sentences; |
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| to this end he tirelessly catalogued the activities of the |
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HR1541 |
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LRB094 22089 MST 60705 r |
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| Illinois Prisoner Review Board; his doggedness played a key |
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| role in not only the eventual parole of James Sayles but of |
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| many Illinois prisoners languishing behind bars many years |
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| after they should have been released; and
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| WHEREAS, To date, David's C# Campaign has succeeded in |
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| actively participating in and influencing the release on parole |
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| of more than 50 C#'s, facilitating the release from parole of |
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| another 40 people, developed a parole training manual for the |
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| families and anyone else who could use it,researching, writing, |
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| and disseminating a vast amount of literature to the community |
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| and educating thousands of people about indeterminate |
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| sentencing, parole, the Illinois prison system, and related |
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| issues, organizing and training lawyers and law students to |
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| take parole cases, have developed a six-hour web site |
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| presentation, and a 100-page manual, to train lawyers and law |
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| students in this work, regularly attended en banc hearings on |
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| parole decision-making held in Springfield-including providing |
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| family members and friends with transportation, funds for |
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| hotels, etc, setting up Town Hall meetings and other |
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| educational events for the community to have contact with |
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| representatives of the Governor, Attorney General, State's |
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| Attorney, the DOC, PRB, legislators, and others, hosting an |
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| annual C# family picnic as well as an annual Christmas |
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| fundraiser benefit, developed recommendations relating to |
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| parole and the Prisoner Review Board for Governor Rod |
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| Blagojevich, assisting prisoners in transferring closer to |
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| their families, and intervening in numerous medical cases with |
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| success; and |
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| WHEREAS, David maintained his humor, sensitivity, and |
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| warmth, in everything he did; he walked the walk, not for |
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| himself, but for others, especially those incarcerated with |
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| whom he felt a bond; and |
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| WHEREAS, He was a bord member of The John Howard |
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HR1541 |
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LRB094 22089 MST 60705 r |
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| Association of Illinois, and an officer and board member of the |
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| Long Term Prisoner Policy Project; he and his wife ran a very |
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| successful business, but his happiness came from the charity |
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| work he was involved with for many years; and |
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| WHEREAS, The passing of David Saxner has been deeply felt |
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| by many, especially is wife, Rikke; he was a remarkable |
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| husband, father, brother, son, friend, and advocate; |
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| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
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| we mourn the passing of David Saxner, and we extend our sincere |
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| condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved |
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| him; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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| presented to his family as an expression of our deepest |
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| sympathy.
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