Full Text of HR0616 102nd General Assembly
HR0616 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, On March 17, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court | 3 | | issued an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic by | 4 | | allowing Illinois courts to establish and update, as | 5 | | necessary, temporary procedures, including the use of remote | 6 | | technology, to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on the court | 7 | | system while continuing to provide access to justice; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, In May of 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court | 9 | | adopted the "Illinois Supreme Court Policy on Remote Court | 10 | | Appearances in Civil Proceedings" to allow and encourage the | 11 | | broad use of remote court appearances; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, The subsequent development of a vaccine and | 13 | | fluctuating changes in COVID-19 numbers allowed the resumption | 14 | | of in-person court hearings periodically throughout the | 15 | | pandemic but on a sporadic and county by county basis; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) | 17 | | issued a report in March of 2021 entitled "Due Process in the | 18 | | Time of COVID" that examined the use of remote technology on | 19 | | the ability of lawyers to represent children in conflict with | 20 | | the law; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, The NJDC report, based on interviews with lawyers |
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| 1 | | representing children in 38 states, concluded that "the shift | 2 | | to technology-based communications and remote hearings | 3 | | threatens young people's constitutional rights, including | 4 | | fundamental aspects of effective legal representation, due | 5 | | process, and access to courts"; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The NJDC report also found that "the pandemic has | 7 | | magnified the disparate treatment of youth of color in the | 8 | | delinquency system and the disproportionate danger youth of | 9 | | color face due to their overrepresentation in facilities and | 10 | | the system as a whole"; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, The NJDC report cautioned that the "findings | 12 | | raise serious concerns about the future operations of juvenile | 13 | | courts once the pandemic subsides...Technology-based | 14 | | communications have caused significant barriers in client | 15 | | communication and access to counsel"; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The NJDC report finds that "every person accused | 17 | | of a crime has a constitutional right to be present at hearings | 18 | | in which their participation may affect the outcome"; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Privacy concerns and technological challenges | 20 | | with the use of remote conferencing technology has a chilling | 21 | | impact on confidential communication between the attorney and | 22 | | the client during hearings; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In interviews conducted by the Juvenile Justice | 2 | | Initiative with six children who were sentenced to juvenile | 3 | | prison in the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice | 4 | | resulting from Zoom court hearings, the children were | 5 | | concerned when speaking with their lawyers through remote | 6 | | technology that their statements would be overheard by another | 7 | | person, such as counselors or correctional officers, who may | 8 | | be just outside the room where they were teleconferencing; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Remote conferencing limits the capacity of an | 10 | | attorney to ascertain the true level of comprehension of the | 11 | | legal process by their juvenile client; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Virtual hearings limit the capacity of children | 13 | | to convey emotion and read subtle cues and gestures; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Virtual hearings dehumanize children; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, A report from the Brennan Center for Justice | 16 | | (Brennan Center) entitled "The Impact of Video Proceedings on | 17 | | Fairness and Access to Justice in Court" highlights some of | 18 | | the negative impacts of remote hearings; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The Brennan Center report includes a study of | 20 | | Cook County's early use of remote technology in felony bond |
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| 1 | | hearings, beginning in 1999, where defendants participated in | 2 | | bond hearings through closed-circuit television; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, The study of over 645,000 Cook County felony bond | 4 | | hearings between 1991 and 2007 concluded that the average bond | 5 | | amount was 51 percent higher when the hearing was virtual and | 6 | | that some cases saw increases of as much as 91 percent in bond | 7 | | amount; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, The study, along with a class action lawsuit, | 9 | | caused Cook County to voluntarily return to live bail | 10 | | hearings; therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 12 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 13 | | we urge the Illinois Supreme Court to exercise its authority | 14 | | to require courts throughout Illinois to responsibly | 15 | | transition hearings conducted under Article V of the Juvenile | 16 | | Court Act of 1987 back to in-person hearings with priority to | 17 | | those hearings where liberty interests are at stake; and be it | 18 | | further
| 19 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois Supreme Court and the | 20 | | Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) to | 21 | | exercise a rights-based approach when weighing the impact of, | 22 | | and determining policy on, remote court appearances, |
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| 1 | | especially those under Article V of the Juvenile Court Act, | 2 | | focusing primarily on protecting children's rights to | 3 | | in-person participation and confrontation, including the | 4 | | benefits of children being able to meet with their lawyers in | 5 | | person prior to and after court hearings; and be it further
| 6 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois Supreme Court and AOIC | 7 | | to work to ensure that court policies, processes, and | 8 | | procedures implemented to protect the health and well-being of | 9 | | youth involved in the justice system do not infringe upon | 10 | | their access to counsel and their right to a fair trial; and be | 11 | | it further
| 12 | | RESOLVED, That we understand that with the possibility of | 13 | | COVID-19 variants or another significant public health crisis | 14 | | there may be times when the Illinois Supreme Court deems it | 15 | | appropriate to transition to virtual hearings for the purpose | 16 | | of protecting the health and well-being for all court hearing | 17 | | participants but that the use of remote technology shall be a | 18 | | last resort for as short a time as possible and all efforts | 19 | | should be made to ensure children have their lawyers | 20 | | physically present during virtual hearings, especially in | 21 | | cases where liberty interests are at stake.
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