Continuing to find novel approaches and commentary to keep our issue afloat amidst the myriad of other pressing questions and new tribulations has truly been a test in endurance. How long can you tread water in a stormy sea?

The initial response from our community was an amazing outpouring of love. There's nothing that can quite describe the resounding chorus of voices that was heard when the Vaughan family stood up in front of the Adams County Courthouse and called foul. In the first 24 hours this petition was up, over 4,000 people signed, almost exclusively members of the Quincy community and from towns in the immediate geographic vicinity. That's roughly 10% of the entire population. That's huge.

And when Judge Adrian was on the ballot for retention, our community did show up. If Adams County Illinois was the deciding factor for that election, he would not have been retained. When the other seven counties he has authority in were added, he barely managed to scrape by with a 62% "yes" vote. Effectively, his approval was knocked down about twenty percent. That's shook.

And here we still are, over two years later. 

A big reason for that is because we've seen what happens when the fire dies down. We've seen the crowds dissipate, the fervor subside. We have watched the sidewalks fall empty; the plywood go up over broken windows; the silence, silence, silence creep into the damp, dingy corners of places where you may still recall having heard music and laughter, if you listen hard enough. But too often, what enters a place when there is no more music to be heard or joy to be shared is, defeat. 

I'm sure it is easier to "get yours" when you play authority to a broken, exploited people, because you don't ever have to worry about them putting up a fight - but what kind of monster does that?

It's our ultimate fear. 

We're afraid beyond belief that survivors and people who are currently fighting against domestic and sexual violence will not be protected by the law the way that our law very much is written. 

Maybe we wouldn't be so afraid of that, as we have read the law, spoken to many very educated people on how the law is to be interpreted and executed, and done much, much, much more research into this exact field of study than could be considered a standard amount. But we are, because there is at least one "veteran" representative of the judiciary in our community telling us that the denotative meanings of words and the definitions as provided by the Illinois Compiled Statutes (720 ILCS 5/11-1.20) don't mean what they say, they mean what he wants them to say. 

He's never conceded he acted in error, and when it comes to surviving criminal sexual assault, that is amongst the most disrespectful realities: 

The apology never happens.

Most survivors will never hear the person or people who hurt them so much as even acknowledge the suffering their words and actions have brought into this world, let alone hear the slightest hint of contrition. And every moment longer an "I'm sorry" isn't said starts to sound a hell of a lot like a fresh new "I'm not sorry" is sitting in its place.

In a certain way, time helps. It softens the memory of pain. Because we have to move on whether justice is upheld or not, and often it's not, we grow new skin over our injuries. We adjust to carry the weight. We bury our hurt someplace it can't surface as easily. But that doesn't make it fair.

That is not just.

So we continue to stand, pleading for the protections and rights that we are already supposed to have according to the laws that already exist. Because what we see being taught by history is that peace is something that can only be achieved when people actively create it. Love is a verb that only exists when it is put into action. Suffering is only put to an end when root of the cause is pulled up completely and cast aside.

Apathy ain't gonna cut it.

Truth does not sound like silence.

AT THE RISK OF ANYONE THINKING WE ARE TOO LOUD,
WE'D LIKE TO LET YOU KNOW WE KNOW OUR RIGHTS AND
WE ARE COMMITTED TO MAKING OUR COMMUNITY
A SAFER AND MORE JUST PLACE FOR SURVIVORS. 

If you happen to have any personal or professional affiliations with Paula Wolff, Aurora Abella-Austriaco, Judge Sheldon Sobol, Judge Lewis Nixon, Justice Margaret Stanton McBride, Justice Thomas M. Harris, and/or Justice Elizabeth M. Rochford, please pass along to them how important this is to not only us, but to a national and international community of survivors and supporters who are watching every single day for news of the Illinois Courts Commission's decision.

Please follow this link to a very comprehensive and nicely-written article by Jason Lewton; the video with the article features one of the more unsung heroines in this fight, Retired Adams County Assistant State's Attorney Anita Rodriguez:

Case draws focus to Illinois sex crime laws (WGEM)  

Thank you for your support,
and please reach out somehow to someone if you need help.
Keep reaching out and don't give up. 

#karmasarelaxingthought ...
#StandWithCammy