Court Opinion

ID: 9743585
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:37:23.178334+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:42.263567
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE STEIGMANN, specially concurring: Although I agree fully with the majority’s decision, I write specially to express my concern about the frequency with which the legislature has amended the Illinois Controlled Substances Act (Act) and the Cannabis Control Act (CCA) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 561/2, par. 701 et seq.) and to call for some restraint in the future when other amendments are proposed. In the last 41/2 years, the General Assembly has enacted the following 27 substantive amendments to the Act and the CCA: Public Act 85 — 140, §1 (1987 Ill. Laws 1007): amended sections 204 and 206 of the Act (amending Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 561/2, pars. 1204,1206). Public Act 85 — 537, §1 (1987 Ill. Laws 2356): added section 406.1 to the Act (see Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 561/2, par. 1406.1). Public Act 85 — 616, §1 (1987 Ill. Laws 2700): amended section 407 of the Act (amending Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 561/2, par. 1407). Public Act 85 — 743, §2 (1987 Ill. Laws 3160, 3164): added section 401.1 to the Act (see Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 561/2, par. 1401.1). Public Act 85 — 948, §1 (1987 Ill. Laws 4133): amended multiple sections of the Act. Public Act 85 — 1003, §3 (1987 Ill. Laws 4710, 4716): amended multiple sections of and added multiple sections to the Act. Public Act 85 — 1030 (1988 Ill. Laws 200): attempted to undo erroneous portions of Public Act 85 — 1003. Public Act 85 — 1260, §1 (1988 Ill. Laws 2553): amended various sections of the Act. Public Act 85 — 1280, §1 (1988 Ill. Laws 2650): amended section 102 of the Act (see Ill. Rev. Stat., 1988 Supp., ch. 561/2, par. 1102) (text eff. July 1,1988). Public Act 85 — 1287, §3 (1988 Ill. Laws 2667, 2671): amended section 406 of the Act (amending Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 561/2, par. 1406) . Public Act 85 — 1294, §1 (1988 Ill. Laws 2690): amended section 401.1 of the Act (amending Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 561/2, par. 1401.1). Public Act 85 — 1388, §3 (1988 Ill. Laws 3204, 3208): added section 5.1 to the CCA (see Ill. Rev. Stat., 1988 Supp., ch. 561/2, par. 705.1). Public Act 86 — 265, §1 (1989 Ill. Laws 1891): amended section 410 of the Act (amending Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 562/2, par. 1410). Public Act 86 — 266 (1989 Ill. Laws 1893): amended various sections and repealed two sections of the Act. Public Act 86 — 604, §1 (1989 Ill. Laws 3295): amended various sections of the Act. Public Act 86 — 625, §1 (1989 Ill. Laws 3441): amended section 312 of the Act (amending Ill. Rev. Stat., 1988 Supp., ch. 56x/2, par. 1312). Public Act 86 — 809, §2 (1989 Ill. Laws 4251): added section 405.1 to the Act (see Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 561/2, par. 1405.1). Public Act 86 — 946, §3 (1989 Ill. Laws 5667, 5673): amended section 407 of the Act (amending Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 561/2, par. 1407) . Public Act 86 — 1382, §15 (1990 Ill. Laws 2877, 2884): amended section 12 of the CCA (amending Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 561/2, par. 712). Public Act 86 — 1391, §1 (1990 Ill. Laws 2957): amended section 401.1 of the Act (see Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 561/2, par. 1401.1). Public Act 86-1459, §13 (1990 Ill. Laws 3437, 3441): added section 407.2 to the Act (see Ill. Rev. Stat., 1990 Supp., ch. 561/2, par. 407.2). Public Act 87 — 466, §13 (1991 Ill. Laws 2416, 2422): amended section 409 of the Act (amending Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 561/2, par. 1409). Public Act 87 — 524, §3 (1991 Ill. Laws 2611, 2618): amended section 407 of the Act (amending Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 561/2, par. 1407). Public Act 87 — 544, §9 (1991 Ill. Laws 2730, 2734): added section 5.2 to the CCA. Public Act 87 — 614, §4 (1991 Ill. Laws 3061, 3066): amended section 505 of the Act (amending Ill. Rev. Stat., 1990 Supp., ch. 561/2, par. 1505). Public Act 87 — 754, §2 (1991 Ill. Laws 3943, 3945): amended sections 102, 208, 308, 312, 401, 402, 405, 407, 407.2, 410, and 411 of the Act (see Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 561/2, pars. 1102, 1208, 1308, 1312, 1401, 1402, 1405, 1407, 1410, 1411; Ill. Rev. Stat., 1990 Supp., ch. 56V2, par. 1407.2). Public Act 87-772, §§2, 3 (1991 Ill. Laws 4129, 4131, 4132): added section 411.2 of the Act and section 10.3 of the CCA. The legislative frenzy the above list reveals is not without its costs. Those costs include errors committed by the legislature when it deprives itself of the patient deliberation normally accorded legislative proposals (see Public Acts 85 — 1003, 85 — 1030, and 85 — 743, all of which are discussed in the majority’s opinion in this case). Other costs include the confusion and uncertainty these frequent changes engender in the prosecutors and police who have the duty of enforcing the drug laws. Furthermore, because the stakes involved are so great-persons convicted of violating drug laws are frequently sentenced to the penitentiary for lengthy periods of time — defense attorneys work diligently to find some loophole or legislative oversight that will thwart criminal prosecutions of defendants charged with violating the drug laws. When attorneys find some legislative flaw to argue, the courts must weigh such arguments very carefully, consistent with their duty to ensure that persons accused of crime receive the criminal due process rights to which they are entitled. Given these costs, the benefits derived from all this legislative activity should be carefully assessed. My assessment leaves me unpersuaded that all this activity is justified. For instance, I doubt that anyone could seriously argue that prior to 1987, the legislature had not passed enough laws reflecting this State’s policy of criminalizing and seriously punishing unlawful drug trafficking and possession. I further doubt that this State needed an additional 27 substantive amendments to its drug laws in the last 41/2 years to further that policy or to protect its citizens. By these remarks, I do not mean to criticize any particular enactment on the list set forth above; nor do I mean to criticize the legislature for carefully reviewing the drug laws from time to time to see whether “some tuckpointing” of these laws might be appropriate. Instead, I am concerned about the volume and frequency of such legislative changes, and I believe that they do not reflect the calm deliberation that ought to be the hallmark of the legislative process.