Christian Smith
CHICAGO (NewsNation) – Illinois lawmakers have approved a bill to change the term “offender” in state law to “justice-affected individual.”
While it is unclear when or if the bill will be signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker, House Bill 4409 approved by 34 votes to 20 on Tuesday.
What is Illinois House Bill 4409?
HB 4409 would amend the Illinois Crime Reduction Act of 2009 to change “references from ‘offenders’ to ‘justice-impacted individuals,’” according to a summary of the bill.
“This is good public safety policy. I know we’re getting stuck with a mandate, but I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we’re adding the Department of Corrections to this bill,” said Illinois State Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago. “We’re trying to make sure everyone has involvement in this program.”
Mistakes of the bill
The proposal gained popularity on social media, and some people mistakenly thought the label referring to people who commit crimes would receive a rebrand, NewsNation affiliate WGN reported.
However, the term change would only apply to men and women in the Adult Reimplant Illinois (ARI), according to the summary of the bill. ARI is an initiative that aims to prevent some offenders from going to prison by connecting them to rehabilitation programs.
Before Tuesday’s vote in the Senate, Republicans argued that the language change portrayed a lack of empathy for victims and a lack of concern for public safety.
“Change this, change that, the one thing you don’t want to change is the behavior of criminals,” said Illinois State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield. “And guess who’s paying for it now? Victims across the state. I ask for a ‘no’ vote.”
Opponents: Change will incur unnecessary costs
After the Illinois House of Representatives passed the bill 68-40 in April, Illinois state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, said people shouldn’t be defined by their worst day.
“So carrying the label of offender for the rest of your life doesn’t seem appropriate for a system in which we aim to return people to full participation in society,” Cassidy said.
Back in the Senate, opponents argue that the change would entail unnecessary costs.
“Every time we make this change, each agency has to make this change in each of their documents,” said Illinois State Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro. “Right now at the Department of Corrections, a lot of changes have been made and it’s costing thousands of dollars just to do a name change.”
NewsNation affiliate WGN contributed to this report.
