News & Commentary

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I am Mary Dixon, Legislative Director of the ACLU of Illinois. On behalf of the ACLU of Illinois and our 20,000 members across the state, we appreciate this opportunity to share our concerns about Senate Bill 1123. I am joined here today by the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Association and many others in opposition to this legislation. Our first concern is the well-being of children should SB 1123 become law. Currently, more than 15,000 foster children in the custody of DCFS come from homes where they have endured abuse or neglect. Many have emotional or behavioral challenges as a result. Today, DCFS wards, on average, are older and harder to place in stable homes than ever before. Many move from home to home, a predictable pattern that research shows worsens these vulnerable and fragile children’s prospects for success. Thus, any discriminatory policy that limits the number of qualified foster parents, risks harm to children. Decades of research has shown that lesbians and gay men are qualified to parent and are just as capable of providing safe and loving homes for children as their heterosexual counterparts. Senate Bill 1123 could prevent a child from being placed with a loving aunt, grandmother or grandfather, who would be unacceptable to a private agency because unmarried and in a civil union. The reduction of the pool of available foster and adoptive homes to children also presents a violation of the 14th Amendment Due Process r

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On July 1, 2011, Illinois will become the 16th state to repeal the death penalty as a result of the tireless advocacy of MARY DIXON to whom this award is presented with the sincere appreciation from the Board of Directors, Staff and Membership of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. April 20, 2011. Congratulations Mary, on an award well-earned!