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In this Issue:
1. It's Party Time!
2. Save the Date for our Program Planning Session
Illinois Citizens for Race Amity
3. National News: California Children Take the EPA to Court!
4. Illinois News: A Win for Public Schools
5. DuPage County News: Highlights from State's Attorney Bob Berlin's Update on DuPage County Public Safety
6. Woo hoo! We now have 596 Facebook followers!
It's Party Time!
LAST CALL to reserve your space at the League of Women Voters of Roselle-Bloomingdale's Annual Holiday Dinner being held this year on Tuesday, December 19th from 6:00 - 9:00 PM at Sue Coleman's house! This year, we're doing a potluck with the League supplying both a chicken and a vegetarian main dish. 
Please sign up here to register and bring your favorite holiday treat. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080D48A4A72CA6F58-46141032-2023#/
Sue's address is 185 Manor Lane in Bloomingdale. Adult beverages are BYOB!
Membership
And let's save you a step! Please print your 2024 membership renewal form and bring your check to the dinner or renew online.
Save the Date for our Progam Planning Session!
This year’s Program Planning session will be held from 9:30 am to noon on Saturday, January 20 at Barb Hochstadt's house - 350 Lakeside Drive in Roselle. As we did last year, our Program Planning will be a potluck breakfast. A link to signup will be included in the next edition of The VOTER.
Illinois Citizens for Race Amity is partnering with several other grassroots community organizations to host a Race Amity Potluck on Saturday, January 20, 2024, at 5:00 pm at First Church of Lombard, 220 S. Main Street, Lombard, IL. Please bring a dish to pass from your cultural heritage.
Their purpose in sponsoring this event, as with the Race Amity Day Picnic in June, is to create a space where we can foster communication among people of diverse backgrounds, cultures, races, ethnicities, ages, and gender to help us all better understand each other and to build communities based on equity, inclusion, love, and respect. For more information, email: ILCit4RAD@comcast.net
National News: California Children Take the EPA to Court!
On December 10, 18 children under 18 filed a federal constitutional climate lawsuit against the EPA. Genesis B. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency asserts that for decades the EPA has intentionally allowed life-threatening climate pollution, despite knowing the harm it causes to children’s health and welfare. The plaintiffs also claim that the EPA has discriminated against them as children by devaluing their lives and their future when it decides whether and how much climate pollution to allow. The worsening impacts of the climate crisis in the West, including fire and floods, have destroyed and damaged homes, forced evacuations and resulted in serious health harms—from severe depression and anxiety to asthma, heat exhaustion, and fear for their lives.
Illinois News: A Win for Public Schools
The League of Women Voters of Illinois’ campaign to sunset the Invest In Kids Act was successful. Our members were part of a broad coalition of 70 organizations led by Illinois Families for Public Schools who contacted their state legislators about why vouchers hurt public schools and the public good. Our voices were a crucial component in creating the political will in the General Assembly to let the program die.
The Illinois General Assembly left Springfield at the end of the Veto Session without taking a vote to extend the program beyond its current sunset date, and the program will begin to sunset on Dec. 31, 2023. This is also a historic win for the fight against the privatization of public schools in our country more broadly. We are the first state in the US to roll back an existing voucher program. Despite decades of being underfunded and undermined, public schools are popular, and Illinoisans want to see them supported and thriving.
DuPage County News: Highlights from DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin's Update on DuPage County Public Safety
State's Attorney Berlin shared that the latest numbers show that the pretrial provisions established by the SAFE-T Act are working mostly as intended. The law eliminating cash bail in Illinois first went into effect on September 18. Since inception through the end of October, the DuPage County State's Attorney’s office filed 178 petitions to detain defendants awaiting trial; 84, or nearly half (47%), were granted. Of the 84 petitions that were granted, 38 were related to cases involving domestic battery or violation of an order of protection. Berlin says that before the SAFE-T Act, the majority of defendants in these situations would post bond and be released. “I think our judges are using their discretion appropriately. The violent criminals, the people that are really a danger to the community, are being detained. Those who can be safely released are getting released. That’s the way the law is supposed to work.”
The State’s Attorney also discussed the downturn of violent crime in DuPage County. Year-over-year numbers show that carjackings, aggravated robberies, and armed robberies are on the decline. He noted that 60% of these defendants come from outside DuPage County. “I think the reason [violent crime statistics are] down is because there are more prosecutors on those cases, and we’re sending a message that we don’t tolerate violent crime,” Berlin said.
Berlin also lauded specialized problem-solving courts in DuPage County as being a big contributor to lower overall crime. These specialized courts focus on restorative justice programs led by multidisciplinary teams. This approach leads to a reduction in recidivism for first-time, nonviolent offenders. These programs help people get back on their feet, and get them back into the community, to become productive members of society.
The two biggest crime concerns at present are:
Last, school threat cases are also trending upward with 30 reported in 2023.
Woo hoo! We now have 596 Facebook followers!
We use social media to communicate with you and the communities we serve. Each post takes valuable time to construct. You can make that time worthwhile and help spread the word by following, liking, and sharing our posts! Follow us using the links at the end of this newsletter
Our Mission: Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.
Our Vision: We envision a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge, and the confidence to participate.
Our Value: We believe in the power of women to create a more perfect democracy.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, political organization whose mission is to encourage informed and active participation in government, to increase understanding of major policy issues, and to influence public policy through education and advocacy. In our 100-year history, the League of Women Voters has never endorsed a political party or candidate for office. Membership in the League is open to anyone regardless of gender, race, or ethnic group.
Thank you for supporting our work to defend democracy and empower voters and thanks for helping our local league GROW! Please share our newsletter with your friends.
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