Bill Text: IL HR0715 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Mourns the death of Jay A. Miller of Evanston

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Passed) 2012-01-31 - Resolution Adopted [HR0715 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HR0715-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
Representatives are deeply sorry to learn of the death of Jay
A. Miller of Evanston; and
WHEREAS, Jay Miller served as the Executive Director of the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois for more than
25 years; and
WHEREAS, Jay Miller worked as a journalist in Cleveland and
a union organizer for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of
America before moving to Chicago to join the Midwest office of
the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC); and
WHEREAS, Jay Miller led a campaign for the AFSC aimed at
securing ratification of a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and helped
to organize a rally for the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King,
Jr. at Chicago's Soldier Field; and
WHEREAS, Jay Miller became the executive director of the
ACLU of Illinois in 1965, when the organization had a staff of
four and budget of less than $50,000, and soon led the
organization to new and innovative cases, including
desegregation of the Waukegan Public Schools, challenges to
racial segregation in public housing, and defending the rights

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of protestors at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in
Chicago; and
WHEREAS, Jay Miller took a prominent role in challenging
the police accounts of the shooting of Black Panther Fred
Hampton, leading to the revelation of the true facts of that
problem; and
WHEREAS, Jay Miller became a prominent voice for civil
liberties in the State, traveled to every corner of the State
to meet with ACLU members and others, and became a regular
voice defending civil liberties in the media across Illinois,
often invoking his own colorful rhetoric; and
WHEREAS, Jay Miller's vision and managerial skills,
combined with his fierce passion for civil liberties, built the
modern ACLU of Illinois, providing resources for the
organization to take on early cases protecting the rights of
persons with AIDS and HIV, ensuring fundamental rights for
lesbians and gay men, worked to reform a decrepit and dangerous
child welfare system and the Illinois Department of Mental
Health, and challenged racial profiling and other racial
discrimination across the State of Illinois; and
WHEREAS, Jay Miller is survived by his wife, Lou Kaplan;
and his children: Josh Miller, Adam Miller; and Rebecca Miller;

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therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Jay
Miller; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to the family of Jay Miller and to the American Civil
Liberties Union of Illinois as a symbol of our sincere
sympathy.