Naperville council should denounce crime reform bill
All those on Naperville City Council need to come together and condemn the process used in passing the police reform bill and urge Gov. Pritzker to veto the bill.
Something as important as police reform should not have been voted on until lawmakers, stakeholders and the general public had an opportunity to read and provide feedback on the bill.
This is not about whether or not we need police reform. This is about silencing the people. Silencing the municipalities, police departments, state’s attorneys and court systems that need to implement the procedures without any monetary support from the state.
This is about silencing the victims, especially those who are victims of domestic violence, rape, and who have a realistic fear of retaliation. This is about silencing the witnesses, who often are too afraid to come forward because they know “snitches get stitches” or worse.
I saw everyday as a Cook County prosecutor how scared victims and witnesses often were of retaliation by the offender. It is not democracy when a 764-page bill is presented to our Illinois senators at 3:51 a.m., voted on less than an hour later and then sent to the Illinois House, which did the same.
Our country was founded on the principle of representing the interests of the people. “We The People” is the beginning of our Constitution. That principle was lost with the passing of this bill. The Illinois Senate and Illinois House passed this bill without caring or hearing the interests of the people. We all need to condemn this undemocratic reform bill.
Jennifer Bruzan Taylor
Naperville City Council candidate
Reform bill benefits criminals, restricts cops
A criminal justice reform bill that will hamstring police is awaiting the governor’s signature.
It requires that all police wear body cameras but an officer will not be permitted to look at the video taken by his camera while filling out his incident report.
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However, attorneys can request the video and report to look for a small glitch through which the perpetrator can be turned loose.
Feeling safer now? And we wonder why people are leaving the state of Illinois.
Charles Brown, Naperville
Supporting police doesn’t negate need for reform
With Illinois lawmakers passing the new criminal justice reform bill, I’m suddenly seeing the reappearance of Blue Lives Matter posts, tweets and such.
Do the lives of law enforcement officers matter? Of course they do. They have always mattered and should continue to be of the utmost importance; these men and women risk their lives everyday.
Unfortunately, our political loyalty seems to get in the way of fundamental moral beliefs and common decency. As a Biden supporter I found it difficult to “like” any post related to Blue Lives Matter. I did not like that their flag was alongside the Confederate flag at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 nor did I agree with the movement’s stance on NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality.
I do, however, get choked up when I see funeral processions for fallen officers and I was thrilled when the father of my child’s classmate won an award for outstanding service to his police department.
Most Trump supporters (or anti-Biden voters) and those who disapprove of Gov. Pritzker have no problem immediately hitting the “thumbs up” button to every Blue Lives Matter post, but suddenly have a dilemma on their hands with the death of a Capitol police officer and the beating of an officer with an American Flag.
After news of the bill’s approval by the Illinois General Assembly, I read responses such as “the world has gone mad” and “Biden supporters love the violence.”
What?
The legislation was no doubt rushed too quickly without debate during a lame duck session. However, morally I cannot disagree with eliminating cash bails for nonviolent offenders; detaining poor people only compounds the problems that already exist in their lives (food, shelter, job, etc.). And nobody should want violent felons walking free simply because they have the means to cover their bail or they have some B-list celebrity posting bail for them.
If there is one thing for certain these days, political loyalty remains steadfast. Maybe we’d all be better off during challenging times if we had the courage to be a bit more firm in our moral beliefs and disregard our political stance.
Holly Patterson, Naperville
City must end its use of coal-generated electricity
A story in the Jan. 24 Naperville Sun spells out why we local residents, acting through our city councils, must act decisively now to take Naperville and other communities off coal-generated electricity.
Quoting the article, scientists tell us: “If emissions are not dramatically reduced, climate-influenced catastrophes could kill millions of people and devastate the global community. … Rapidly expanding the deployment of wind and solar power, electric vehicles and energy-efficient buildings would help repair the nation’s virus-ravaged economy and create thousands of new jobs. … Prairie State needs to shut down (its coal-burning operations) earlier than expected under a zero-carbon strategy.”
Naperville, as the largest electric using member of the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (35% of total use), must see that the IMEA takes much bigger steps than taken and planned to date. If necessary, rework the municipal contracts with the plant’s operator — contracts not set to expire until 2035. That is when the nation’s electric grid is to become carbon-free.
Naperville must be resourceful and aggressive now to stop buying coal-generated electricity from Prairie State. Turn off the use of fossil fuels and turn to carbon-free renewables.
One approach to evaluate is this: Set up a sinking fund financed by a surcharge on electricity sold that approximates the environmental costs of greenhouse gas emissions not met by current customer charges. (This is estimated by the Government Accounting Office to be $50 plus per mega watt hour/MWh). When the sinking fund, which could be built by Naperville and other IMEA members, reaches sufficient value to purchase Prairie State, do it.
Naperville is a leading, award-winning, affluent city. We are up to this absolutely vital task. Let’s get to it!
Stephanie Hughes, Naperville
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