Inequalities in Illinois Constitutional Equality

In 1970 four new equality provisions were added to the Illinois Constitution, including two explicit equal protection provisions and two explicit antidiscrimination provisions. Shortly thereafter, Elmer Gertz, the Chair of the Bill of Rights Committee for the relevant constitutional convention, declared that we in Illinois have gone beyond all other states and the federal government in eliminating discrimination. Unfortunately, a few years later Gertz lamented that while Illinois had the strongest nondiscrimination provisions of any state constitution, these provisions had only yielded unrealized expectations. Today, the 1970 equality mandates continue to be unrealized. This paper reviews the four provisions and then demonstrates what went wrong, criticizing both the state legislature and high court. In particular, it examines the shortcomings of the Illinois Human Rights Act whose stated goal was to secure and guarantee the new equality rights. While the Act extends statutory equality protections to some who are without explicit constitutional equality guarantees, the Act also fails to protect others who were expressly assured protections in 1970. For example, the Article I, Section 17 assurances of freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, national ancestry and sex in the hiring and promotion practices of any employer or in the sale or rental of property remain unrealized as the Act covers, but then exempts, many persons subject to discrimination in employment and property transactions. The paper concludes with suggested reforms that will help to realize the unique promises of Illinois constitutional equality

Case Study of Zero Waste Bag Design Utilizing Pre-Consumer Upholstery Fabric Waste

The upholstery industry generates tremendous fabric waste each year, which negatively impacts the environment. The researchers aimed to explore a potential use of pre-consumer upholstery fabric waste through the creation of reusable grocery bags, under the frame of Barquet et al.\u27s (2016) five sustainability factors for product service system business model. By utilizing 98.88% of 234.48 ounces of upholstery fabric waste provided by an upholsterer, this study resulted in the creation of 30 reusable grocery bags with a total estimated retail value of $1,300. We revealed the positive linkage of our reusable bag design process to four of the sustainability factors: Apply Designs for Environment, Identify Economic Value, Promote Behavior Change, and Act Towards Social Well-being. Findings also suggest this upholstery fabric waste should no longer be considered waste, as it performs as valuable resources for the creation of other durable products

Monetary Recoveries for State Crime Victims

Crime victim recoveries are typically available in American states through three separate, but related, avenues: a criminal proceeding (with or without a formal charge); a related civil claim (including a pre-suit settlement); and, a related administrative or special court proceeding. Multiple avenues can be pursued simultaneously. These avenues often, but not always, have constitutional as well as statutory foundations. Unfortunately state crime victims often go without recovery. Barriers to recovery include intrastate and interstate confusion over terms like restitution and victim. More can be done for victims, especially during criminal case sentencing. Unlike federal district courts, state criminal courts typically have general jurisdictional authority allowing broader opportunities for crime victim recoveries at the close of criminal cases. Better crime victim recovery procedures are especially warranted where there are explicit state constitutional law interests

Monetary Remedies for Victims During Illinois Criminal Cases

The Illinois Crime Victim's Rights Amendment, added to the Illinois Constitution by the legislature and the voters in 1992, includes a 'right to restitution'. The amendment spurred some new legislation, now within the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act. But most crime victims still have little chance for restitution or other monetary remedies during criminal cases. Other remedies include recoveries from a state fund guided by the Crime Victims Compensation Act and recoveries ordered at sentencing under the Unified Code of Corrections Act. The paper first examines the Illinois constitutional right to restitution and the three separate acts recognizing possible monetary remedies for crime victims during criminal cases. Upon concluding that the constitutional right to restitution has not been adequately implemented by the legislature or the courts, the paper looks to other American state approaches to crime victim recoveries. For Illinois it proposes that the three acts be combined into a single statutory scheme, organized by the stages in a criminal case. Integrated provisions would held better secure the goal of enhanced recoveries by crime victims established by the overwhelming majorities of constitutional amendment drafters and voters

A simple trapped-ion architecture for high-fidelity Toffoli gates

We discuss a simple architecture for a quantum Toffoli gate implemented using three trapped ions. The gate, which in principle can be implemented with a single laser-induced operation, is effective under rather general conditions and is strikingly robust (within any experimentally realistic range of values) against dephasing, heating and random fluctuations of the Hamiltonian parameters. We provide a full characterization of the unitary and noise-affected gate using three-qubit quantum process tomography

Mechanisms and roles of mitochondrial localisation and dynamics in neuronal function

Neurons are highly polarised, complex and incredibly energy intensive cells, and their demand for ATP during neuronal transmission is primarily met by oxidative phosphorylation by mitochondria. Thus, maintaining the health and efficient function of mitochondria is vital for neuronal integrity, viability and synaptic activity. Mitochondria do not exist in isolation, but constantly undergo cycles of fusion and fission, and are actively transported around the neuron to sites of high energy demand. Intriguingly, axonal and dendritic mitochondria exhibit different morphologies. In axons mitochondria are small and sparse whereas in dendrites they are larger and more densely packed. The transport mechanisms and mitochondrial dynamics that underlie these differences, and their functional implications, have been the focus of concerted investigation. Moreover, it is now clear that deficiencies in mitochondrial dynamics can be a primary factor in many neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we review the role that mitochondrial dynamics play in neuronal function, how these processes support synaptic transmission and how mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated in neurodegenerative disease