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Friday, March 14, 2014
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DeKalb County issues Employee fired over 1st gay marriage license
porn seeks jobless aid Claims many DeKalb County employees were viewing it By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI
“I’m not aware of what evidence he has that other people were doing it, too. That’s certainly something he’d have to produce as the case goes forward.”
jduchnowski@shawmedia.com
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Jaelyn Paulsen (center) picks up a marriage license for her and partner Darla Cook (right) at the DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder’s office Thursday morning. The license was the first same sex marriage license signed by the DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder Doug Johnson.
County clerk told state’s attorney not to fight lawsuit By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com and KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Darla Cook and Jaelyn Paulsen didn’t want to let another St. Patrick’s Day pass before they got married. In addition to being a day when people wear Paulsen’s favorite color, green, Monday also is the four-year anniversary of their commitment ceremony. So rather than wait for the Illinois law legalizing same-sex marriage to take effect June 1, they filed suit against DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder Doug Johnson. On Thursday, after Johnson declined to mount a defense, they won, and Johnson’s office granted them a marriage license. The couple is planning a low-key ceremony Monday at a Sycamore area church with a pastor officiating.
Jaeyln Paulsen (left) of Sycamore and Darla Cook of DeKalb share a moment after receiving their marriage license while sitting in the DeKalb County Courthouse on Thursday morning. The pair plan to marry on Monday, the anniversary of their civil union. “In the last year, it’s been good to have the courts and the legislature stepping in and saying this is not right,” Paulsen said. “We need to stop discriminating against these couples just because they’re different than what we’re used to.” Judge Ron Matekaitis accepted an
agreed order from Johnson, DeKalb County State’s Attorney Richard Schmack, and Cook and Paulsen. The couple wrote their own petition challenging Johnson, who had said he would wait to issue same-sex
See MARRIAGE LICENSE, page A6
SYCAMORE – A former DeKalb County employee who was fired for viewing pornography at work is fighting for unemployment benefits, claiming other county employees were doing it, too, court records show. Steven C. Scoughton, 53, of DeKalb, filed an appeal this week in DeKalb County Court, after the Illinois Department of Employment Security Board of Review found he was not eligible for benefits because he was fired for misconduct. Scoughton, a Marine veteran, claims that county supervisors condoned employees downloading and viewing pornography on county computers. He worked as a service officer for Veterans Assistance Commission from June 2008 to May 2013, making $20 an hour when he left, DeKalb County Finance Director Peter Stefan said. DeKalb County Assistant State’s Attorney Stephanie Klein and Scoughton’s attorney, Charles Prorok of Rockford, said ethics rules prevented them from offering new information on pending litigation. But Klein said she was not aware of other county employees viewing pornography on their computers. “I’m not aware of what evidence he has that other people were doing it, too,” Klein said Thursday afternoon. “That’s certainly something he’d have to produce as the case goes forward.” Klein’s office has 35 days from Monday, the day the appeal was filed, to file a response, Prorok said. The Illinois Department of Employment Security Board of Review didn’t think much of Scoughton’s argument, though.
Stephanie Klein DeKalb County Assistant State’s Attorney
See AID, page A6
Quinn defends record on anti-violence program By SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press
CHICAGO – Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn defended his record Thursday on a troubled 2010 anti-violence program he championed, saying he moved swiftly to correct problems years before a state auditor’s report raised questions about expenditures. The Chicago Democrat said he was the first to spot issues in 2012 with the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative and he moved to abolish the agency that ran it.
The initiative, designed to reduce Chicago neighborhood violence by helping young people get jobs, offer parenting skills and help for people getting out of prison, spent $55 million in the first two years. However, Auditor General William Holland’s report last month found “pervasive deficiencies” in implementing the initiative, along with sloppy and missing paperwork. The report questioned about 40 percent of the expenditures by service providers. The findings led some top
Republicans to call for a federal investigation. But Quinn said Thursday that his administration investigated and fixed problems. “The job of the governor is to step in when you see something going in the wrong direction and straighten it out. That’s what I did with that program, long before the audit arrived,” Quinn told reporters after an unrelated event. The initiative was run by the now-defunct Illinois Violence Prevention Authority, which relied in part on recommendations
from Chicago aldermen when choosing community agencies to run programs. The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority took over the Violence Prevention Authority last year. Quinn announced the initiative in October 2010 after Chicago pastors asked him to help combat city violence. The timing prompted critics to argue it was a program to lock up the city’s vote a month before he won election by a thin margin. Also, the Chicago Sun-Times
reported earlier this month that tens of thousands of dollars earmarked for the program was paid to Benton Cook, the husband of Democratic Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, who worked as a program coordinator. Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno called his hiring “pure cronyism.” Quinn’s office said it wasn’t involved in hiring, disputed claims of favoritism and said no community organization received money until after the election.
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