This week, a bipartisan group of 11 members of the Illinois General Assembly filed an amicus curiae brief defending the constitutionality of Illinois law defining marriage as the union of a husband and a wife. Led by Senator Kirk Dillard (R-Westmont) and Senator Bill Haine (D-Alton), the legislators’ brief supports a motion to dismiss the ACLU and Lambda Legal lawsuits filed by Thomas More Society attorneys, on behalf of downstate county clerks who were allowed into the case to defend the law.

“We welcome the bipartisan support for Illinois’ marriage law offered by this respected group of legislators,” said Peter Breen, executive director and legal counsel for the Thomas More Society. “They rightly point out that under our constitutional system, the issue of how the government treats domestic relationships is reserved to the General Assembly.”

The legislators assert that the judicial branch should not rewrite the state’s marriage laws, stating that “to do so would be to place the court in a position of acting as a super-legislature, nullifying laws it does not like. That is not our proper role in a democratic society.” They also claim that such action would, “Dramatically interfere with the constitutional guarantee of separation of powers by which the general assembly is empowered to make public policy….”

The legislators also cite several sociological arguments stating that “… the marriage structure that helps children the most is a family headed by two biological parents ….” The legislators also supported the religious liberty concerns raised by the amicus brief of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, also filed this week, indicating that “of great concern to us is hostility that may be shown to Illinois’ religious minorities” who oppose same-sex marriage.

The amicus curiae brief is available HERE.

The proposed amici curiae, Senator Kirk Dillard, Senator William Haine, Senator Matt Murphy (R-Palatine), Senator Darrin LaHood (R-Peoria), Senator Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), Representative David Reis (R-Olney), Representative Joseph Lyons (D-Chicago), Representative Michael Connelly (R-Naperville), Representative Richard Morthland (R-Moline), Representative Patti Bellock (R-Westmont), and Representative Paul Evans (R-Highland), all of the Illinois General Assembly, are represented by retired Cook County Chancery Court Judge, Robert V. Boharic.

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to contact your state representatives and state senators, urging them to support HJR 95 and its call for an amendment to the Illinois Constitution that clearly defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. 

Illinois State Representative Paul Evans (R-Highland) has introduced a law that would crackdown on the abuse of disabled people. His proposal would improve protocol of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigations. Features of the proposed law would amend the Abuse of Adults with Disabilities Intervention Act, requiring the OIG to refer evidence of crimes against an adult with disabilities to the appropriate law enforcement agency immediately upon finding evidence of such crimes. 

Evans presented the proposed amendment before the Illinois House Human Services Committee hearing in Chicago on August 2nd.

“Today’s committee heard the heartbreaking stories of alleged abuse and how we can improve our care, services and reaction time to better serve and protect disabled adults,” said Rep. Evans.

Evans recently filed legislation demanding greater reporting standards when disabled adults are victims of abuse, neglect and exploitation. The bill also requires the Department of Human Services (DHS) to establish minimum standards of training to further educate investigators on how to recognize signs of abuse. 

“The recent investigative report by the Belleville News-Democrat exposing the Department of Human Services’ failure to follow-up on alleged reports of abuse of disabled adults demands an in-depth study by the General Assembly,” said Evans.  “We must understand where the protective services failed and what steps we must take to ensure this breach of trust and safety never happens again.” 

The Belleville News-Democrat found 53 deaths since 2003 that the DHS did not investigate or include in its annual report. The paper also reports that in most cases individuals were near death while being evaluated in the hospital and health care professionals speculated on the possibility of abuse or neglect, but the patient died before an investigation actually began. 

Evans contends House Bill 6203 recognizes that in some instances, abusers intimidate and coerce individuals to refuse or withdraw consent for help in order to cover up the abuse. The bill helps determine the capacity of a victim to consent while respecting their privacy and at the same time protecting them from potential abusers. 

 The legislation also provides that upon the death of an adult with a disability, where a complaint of alleged abuse, neglect or exploitation was made prior to the death, regardless of whether the report was substantiated or not, and regardless if consent was given for assessment, the Office of the Inspector General designated by the Department of Human Services shall immediately report the matter to law enforcement and the coroner. 

Representative Evans and his wife Sandy are the parents of three children. Their oldest daughter was born with spina bifida and is now fully independent and attending Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Two Illinois state lawmakers are pushing back against an ACLU lawsuit seeking to overturn the Illinois’ 1996 marriage law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

Defying Michael J. Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, State Reps. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) and David Reis (R-Olney) have introduced House Joint Resolution 95 (HJR 95) in the Illinois House, which would allow Illinois voters to vote in the 2014 Illinois General Election on defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman in our state constitution.

(Note: A constitutional marriage amendment has been introduced in every General Assembly since 2003 but has never been given even a hearing.)

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is on record in support of redefining marriage as well as in support of the ACLU lawsuit intended to circumvent the will of the people to accomplish that goal. 

Rep. Reis is “calling upon Lisa Madigan to recuse herself and the resources of her taxpayer-funded state office from supporting two lawsuits questioning the constitutionality of Illinois’ gay marriage ban.”

“‘As Attorney General, it is her office’s duty to support the Illinois Constitution. Statutorily, it has been long established in Illinois that marriage is between a man and a woman,’ Rep. Reis said. ‘Madigan’s use of scarce taxpayer resources is an injustice to the oath of office she swore to uphold.’” 

“Attorney General Madigan stated her office would not defend the state’s marriage definition by law, saying her office will ‘present the court with arguments that explain why the challenged statutory provisions do not satisfy the guarantee of equality under the Illinois Constitution.’”

“‘Rather than questioning the constitutionality of a longstanding law in Illinois, the Attorney General’s office should be focused on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act implemented by the Obama administration,’ Reis stated. ‘Instead of standing with the twenty-six states across America who are challenging the constitutionality of Obama Care, Madigan has chosen to use taxpayer dollars to legalize same-sex marriage.’”

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to contact your state representatives and state senators, urging them to support HJR 95 and its call for an amendment to the Illinois Constitution that clearly defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. 

“If we don’t, this issue might very well get decided in the courts,” said Reis. 

Similar lawsuits have been filed in states like Massachusetts and in Iowa which resulted in their state supreme court legalizing the redefinition of marriage.

***Update:  State Representatives Paul Evans (R-Highland), Dwight Kay (R-Edwardsville), Jil Tracy (R-Quincy), Wayne Rosenthal (R-Litchfield), Mike Bost (R-Carbondale ), Adam Brown (R-Decatur), Brad Halbrook (R-Effingham), and Patricia Bellock (R-Westmont ) are now co-sponsoring this important resolution.

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