44th District Weekly Update

From Sen. Bill Brady

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[April 15, 2008] 

Senate approves bill protecting prison, DHS employees

Protecting correctional officers working at prisons and state employees working at secured facilities housing sexually violent individuals is the aim of legislation I am sponsoring.

Senate Bill 2365 increases felony penalties for inmates or sexually violent individuals who throw blood or other bodily matter at facility employees.

This legislation was requested by the Fraternal Order of Police Illinois Department of Corrections Lodge 263. Correctional officers and employees in secured facilities that house sexually violent people face dangerous and difficult people on a daily basis. This legislation increases penalties for offenders who try to humiliate or hurt an officer or an employee by throwing bodily waste at them.

Under current law, a prison inmate or a sexually dangerous person committed to a Department of Human Services facility who tries to throw bodily matter at an employee is charged with an aggravated battery. The penalty is currently a Class 3 felony (two to five years in prison; fine up to $25,000). Senate 2365 raises the penalty to a Class 2 felony (three to seven years in prison; fine up to $25,000).

Passed by a 54-0 vote of the Senate on April 1, Senate Bill 2365 has moved to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Kudos

An April 8 news article in the Peoria Journal Star told of several local law enforcement officials and concerned citizens who were honored April 7 at the annual Illinois State Police awards ceremony.

These individuals had worked together to try to turn around a terrible string of accidents that killed 15 teenagers in Tazewell County between March 2005 and July 2006. The goal was to get through the 2006-07 school year without any teen crash deaths in Tazewell County.

And they did it!

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Congratulations to those who received awards for their work with the Tazewell County Teen Initiative: Illinois State Police Capt. Dean Kennedy, who is based in District 8 in Metamora; Tazewell County Sheriff Robert Huston; Drew Scott, president of the Tazewell County Youth Board; Tazewell County Coroner Dennis Conover; Sara Sparkman of the Tazewell County Health Department; John Anderson, Tazewell County highway engineer; Michael Stout of the Illinois Department of Transportation; and James Graham of the Ford Motor Company Fund.

Toy recalls: ensuring the safety of your children

Recalls of children's products are issued for a variety of reasons, ranging from small parts that can detach and pose a choking hazard, to toys that are coated in lead-based paint.

During 2007, nearly 150 different toys -- amounting to more than 38 million units -- were recalled. In addition, more than 30 juvenile products were recalled, including items such as cribs and car seats, and numerous clothing products.

These massive recalls were enough to scare any parent. Because children are particularly vulnerable to dangerous consumer products, people purchasing items for kids are right to be concerned about safety.

If you would like to know more, sign up at www.recalls.gov for e-mail notification of all recalled products. You can also check at www.cpsc.gov for the Consumer Product Safety Commission's information on recalled children's products. Or call the Illinois attorney general's product recall line at 1-888-414-7678 or TTY 1-800-964-3013 if you have questions or if you see a recalled product being sold in stores.

[Text from file received from Sen. Bill Brady, 44th District]

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