Earlier today, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Kris Fulkerson, a woman seeking to exercise her rights as a step-parent under Illinois Civil Union Act. Ms. Fulkerson entered into a civil union with the father of the child, and acted as a step-parent to the child prior to the father’s death. An appellate court denied Ms. Fulkerson the ability to seek rights as a step-parent because she and her partner had entered into a civil union, rather than a marriage. Today’s decision reverses that decision. 

Ms. Fulkerson was represented in this matter by John Knight and Karen Sheley of the ACLU of Illinois, as well as Michael Scodro and Brett Legner of the Chicago office of Mayer Brown LLP.    

The following statement can be attributed to Kris Fulkerson: 

“I am so pleased by the Court’s ruling. This was not just a court case. It was about my family. When my partner and I entered into a civil union seven years ago, we understood that our civil union would give us all the same rights and responsibilities as a marriage. I became a step-parent to a child who became an important part of my life and the life of my entire family. We forged a strong relationship as a family, one that did not end – legally or emotionally – at the death of my partner. My partner and I entered into a civil union, because we understood that our family would get the same protections as we would get from marriage, not only during our lifetimes but afterwards. 

I was devastated when the court of appeals ruled otherwise and I lost the chance to seek visitation and parental responsibilities with my partner’s child who I parented with him for several years prior to his death. 

This has been a long process, with a number of setbacks and delays. I am happy the process ended this way. Every person who entered a Civil Union should be able to exercise all the rights intended when the General Assembly created this path for recognizing and honoring loving relationships.”

The following statement can be attributed to John Knight, LGBTQ & HIV Project Director, ACLU of Illinois:

“This is a great decision, not only for the LGBTQ community but for all couples who decided to enter into a civil union. The Court clearly recognized that when the Illinois General Assembly passed the Civil Union Act, it intended to extend to civil union partners all the rights and responsibilities of marriage, including those of a step-parent. The language of the Act makes that goal clear, and everyone involved in drafting and passing it understood that this was its purpose. We are pleased that the Court recognized this reality and affirmed Ms. Fulkerson’s right to seek step-parent rights. Families who sought, and continue to seek, protections under the Civil Union Act deserve to know that all those family protections remain secure.”
 

A court-appointed medical expert charged with overseeing improvements in the health care system inside Illinois prisons again reported serious flaws in the system, including the continued need for qualified medical professionals and an effective program to control infectious diseases. The findings are contained in a comprehensive report to a federal district court in Chicago in Lippert v. Jeffreys, a case challenging the availability of adequate health care in Illinois prisons. The report, authored by Dr. John Raba, is the second accounting for the State’s progress under an agreement reached in 2019. 

“Our clients – the more than 30,000 men and women held in IDOC custody – continue to face a significant risk to their health and lives because of the lack of adequate medical care in our prisons,” said Camille Bennett, Director of the Corrections Reform Project at the ACLU of Illinois and counsel in Lippert. “This is especially troubling in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.”  

Among a list of problems in the health care system in the IDOC, the expert report highlighted these issues in need of urgent redress: 

• IDOC “does not have an effective infection control program or adequate infection control staff.” The lack of an effective infection control program is exacerbated by the fact that the person hired to serve as the statewide Infection Control Coordinator is described as “not qualif[ied]” for the position.
• An analysis of IDOC staffing reveals that a startling 357 additional medical/dental care positions are necessary to adequately staff the statewide health care system.  
• Beyond open positions, three physicians currently practicing in IDOC have licenses that are on “probationary” status.  
• Just 1% of prisoners with Hepatitis C are being treated for the disease – Hepatitis C patients comprise a full five percent of the total IDOC population. 

The report is the latest in Lippert v. Jeffreys. A 2018 examination of the system by an outside medical expert found 12 preventable deaths among a group of 33 IDOC deaths that were intensively examined. Another seven in that group were possibly preventable and the record-keeping in five cases was so poor that the expert and his team could not determine if the death was preventable.  The expert identified a total of over 1,700 medical errors in the group of 33 mortalities. Before the matter went to trial, the parties agreed to a settlement in late 2018, later approved by the federal court in 2019. 

A report by Dr. Raba in January of this year found many of the problems identified in the latest update.  

“It is time for the State to dig in and address these concerns – if not during a pandemic, then when?” added Bennett. 

A copy of the report is available here.