HR0153 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0153 LRB095 11323 RLC 32011 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy recently issued a study "Intersecting Voices; Impacts of Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy" finding that from 1983 to 2002, the number of African Americans admitted to Illinois prisons for drug offenses rose 5,347% from 185 to 10,077; the number of Whites and Hispanics admitted to prison for drug offenses increased 666% from 270 to 2,067; and Illinois ranked second in the country with respect to Black-White disparities in prison sentences for drug crimes; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy in the study "Intersecting Voices; Impacts of Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy" reported that in 2002, 946 Caucasians were incarcerated for drug sales, while the number of African Americans was 4,406; and

WHEREAS, The U. S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that nationally, in 2002, 266,465 adults were arrested for drug trafficking, 212,810 were convicted of felony drug trafficking, and of those convicted 51% were white and 47% were black; and

WHEREAS, In 2000, half of all African Americans admitted to Illinois prisons were sentenced for drug offenses, compared with 30 percent of Hispanics and 15 percent of Whites; and

WHEREAS, National studies found that Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics use illegal drugs at similar rates, and also that most users obtain drugs from people within their own racial or ethnic background; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly has amended the Illinois Controlled Substances Act on several occasions to enhance penalties for anyone convicted of conducting a delivery in certain areas; and

WHEREAS, The original purpose of the enhanced penalties was to deter individuals from engaging in drug trafficking in areas where children are present or likely to be present; and

WHEREAS, The initial step was the enhancement of the penalty for anyone conducting a delivery near a school, school bus stop or mode of transporting children to school; and

WHEREAS, In 1990, the General Assembly amended the Illinois Controlled Substances Act to increase the penalty for delivery within 1000 feet of public housing property or park, so that the penalty is enhanced by automatically treating any delivery under these circumstances as one felony class higher; and

WHEREAS, Under this amendment any delivery of more than one gram of cocaine within 1,000 feet of public housing property is treated as a Class X felony, subject to mandatory prison time, regardless of whether children were present or likely to be present in the vicinity of the transaction; and

WHEREAS, In 1997, automatic felony elevation was added for delivery within 1000 feet of any church, synagogue or building used primarily for worship regardless of whether the worshipers were present or likely to be present in the vicinity of the transaction; and

WHEREAS, In 2000, the provision relating to public housing was expanded to include any residential property owned or leased in part by a public housing agency, including mixed income developments; and

WHEREAS, In November, 2005, TASC and Loyola University issued the report, "The Disproportionate Incarceration of African Americans for Drug Crimes: The Illinois Perspective" which confirmed the disproportionate application of this State's criminal drug laws, as amended during the first half of the 1990s, to be a significant factor for the disparate impact which these laws have on African American communities; and

WHEREAS, The TASC and Loyola University researchers concluded that these restrictions are most common in poor, African American neighborhoods, which, per capita have more public housing units and storefront churches than any other communities in the city; and

WHEREAS, This statute which requires mandatory minimum prison terms, denies judges the discretion to determine the appropriate penalty on a case-by-case basis; and

WHEREAS, The Justice Policy Institute (JPI) recently issued a report, "Disparity by Design: How Drug-free Zone Laws Impact Racial Disparity B and Fail to Protect Youth" which found that the laws that heighten penalties for drug activity near schools, public housing and other designated locations fail to protect youth; and

WHEREAS, JPI found that drug-free zone laws erode the constitutional right to trial by forcing defendants to plead guilty or risk long prison terms; and

WHEREAS, JPI also found that communities of color are disproportionately impacted by drug-free school zone laws because densely populated urban neighborhoods, where people of color are more likely to live, are blanketed by prohibited zones, while rural and suburban neighborhoods are less affected; and

WHEREAS, JPI found that in New Jersey, three-quarters of Newark, and over half of Jersey City and Camden, fall within a zone compared to just six percent of rural Mansfield Township and the result of this "urban effect" is what New Jersey's sentencing commission terms "a devastatingly disproportionate impact on New Jersey's minority community"; and

WHEREAS, JPI found that in New Jersey Blacks and Hispanics make up just a quarter of the state's resident population, while they comprise 96% of prisoners serving time for drug-free zone offenses; and

WHEREAS, JPI found that in Connecticut cities where the majority of residents are nonwhite have ten times more zones per square mile than localities where less than 10% of residents are black or Hispanic; and

WHEREAS, JPI found that Blacks and Hispanics account for just 20% of Massachusetts residents but 80% of drug-free zone cases; and

WHEREAS, Utah's parole board recommended replacing the drug-free zone enhancement with an enhancement for only those convicted of selling or manufacturing drugs in the presence of children; and

WHEREAS, The New Jersey Sentencing Commission could find no deterrent effect of the drug-free zone law; and

WHEREAS, The New Jersey Sentencing Commission found that fewer than one in 10 arrests takes place just outside the zones, while the number of drug-free zone arrests has risen since the law was enacted, rather than falling, as would be expected if drug sellers had moved their activity to avoid prohibited zones; and

WHEREAS, The New Jersey, Sentencing Commission concluded that the size of the zones erodes their deterrent effect and recommended that zones be narrowed from 1,000 to 200 feet; and

WHEREAS, The New Jersey Sentencing Commission concluded that reducing the size of prohibited zones will accomplish two objectives: more effectively deter drug activity that occurs within sight of schools and other protected locations; and lessen the impact of mandatory sentencing on urban communities, thereby reducing racial disparities; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that there is hereby established a Legislative Task Force on Drug Free Zones (the Task Force); and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall have six members of the General Assembly, three appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and 3 appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; and be it further

RESOLVED, That That the following persons shall serve without compensation as ex-officio, non-voting members of the Task Force:

(A) The Director of the Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, or his or her designee;

(B) The Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, or his or her designee;

(C) The Public Defender of Cook County or his or her designee;

(D) The State's Attorney of Cook County or his or her designee;

(E) The Director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, or his or her designee;

(F) The State Appellate Defender, or his or her designee; and

(G) The Director of the Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, or his or her designee; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the agencies of State and County governments represented on the Task Force shall work cooperatively to provide administrative support for the Task Force; the Illinois Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse shall be the primary agency in providing that support; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall conduct hearings and complete a comprehensive examination of the State's laws which were intended to create drug free zones to determine: (a) the effectiveness of the laws, (b) whether these laws have a disparate impact on African American communities, and (c) whether these laws should be amended to (i) more effectively deter drug activity that occurs within sight of schools and other protected locations; and (ii) lessen the impact of mandatory sentencing on urban communities, thereby reducing racial disparities; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly in a final report which shall be filed on or before November 1, 2007; the requirement for reporting to the General Assembly shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the Speaker, the Minority Leader and the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the President, the Minority Leader and the Secretary of the Senate and the Legislative Research Unit, as required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization Act, and filing additional copies with the State Government Report Distribution Center for the General Assembly as required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State Library Act; the report shall include, but need not be limited to, the following:

(1) An assessment of the collateral consequences of the state's laws which were intended to create drug free zones;

(2) An assessment of the effectiveness of these laws;

(3) An assessment as to whether these laws have a disparate impact on African Americans;

(4) An assessment as to whether these laws tend to erode the constitutional right to trial by forcing defendants to plead guilty or risk long prison terms; and

(5) Recommendations for legislative changes necessary to correct those problems (if any) identified by the panel.