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Chicago
Illinois
United States
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I. LEGAL STATUS FOR UNAUTHORIZED ALIEN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
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An estimated 600,000 unauthorized (undocumented) non-citizens aged 12 to 20 are
enrolled in pre-college U.S. schools; over 400,000 of them are estimated to
have been in the U.S. for at least five years. The "Development, Relief and
Education for Alien Minors Act" (DREAM Act) has been proposed in Congress to
provide certain alien high school students who wish to attend college an
opportunity to become legal permanent residents in pursuing this goal.
Qualifying students must not have a criminal record, entered the U.S. before
they were 16, lived here at least five years, and a graduated from high school
or its equivalent.
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1. Should Congress provide unauthorized alien high school students who wish to
attend college with an opportunity to gain legal permanent resident status?
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Yes
No
Don't know
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II. LOCAL ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMMING FOR YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS GOVERNMENT
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"Redeploy Illinois" enables Illinois counties to redirect juvenile offenders
who are not guilty of a Class X forcible felony from state-run confined
facilities to community-based treatment and counseling programs. The program
allows counties to get money for placing their juvenile offenders in these
community-based programs rather than into state incarceration. Funds to run the
program would come from the money saved by the Department of Corrections, which
would otherwise need to house the offending youth.
2. Should Illinois divert state prison funds to develop local alternative
programming for youthful offenders who otherwise would be held in confinement?
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2. Should Illinois divert state prison funds to develop local alternative
programming for youthful offenders who otherwise would be held in
confinement?
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Yes
No
Don't know
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III. DEATH PENALTY FOR JUVENILES
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In the fall of 2002, a series of sniper killings left ten people dead in
Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. When deciding where to try one of the
suspects, 17-year-old Lee Malvo, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft chose
Virginia, where four persons were murdered. The federal government does not
execute people for crimes they committed as juveniles, and Virginia is one of
22 states that permit the execution of those who committed crimes when they
were 16 or older. In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that no one could be
executed for a crime they committed when they were under 16 years of age.
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3. Under current Illinois law, persons cannot be sentenced to death for crimes
committed when they were younger than eighteen years of age. This includes
capital crimes, that is, crimes for which adults can be sentenced to death.
What statement best describes your opinion about Illinois law?
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I agree with the law in Illinois.
I disagree. The death sentence should be an option in Illinois for punishing
juveniles who commit a capital crime.
I Don't know.
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4. Should Congress enact a national ban on executing persons for crimes they
committed when they were under 18 years of age?
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Yes
No
Don't know
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