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* Let’s start here…
A slight correction - copied/pasted "voting no" in the part of the key indicating five members of the Black Caucus, but actually they didn't vote. Same effect, of course, but a different action with moderately different intent. Updated graphic: https://t.co/VvIm1DC05k pic.twitter.com/G0WzdYM2S4
— Hannah Meisel (@hannahmeisel) March 29, 2022
* Capitol News Illinois…
One Prisoner Review Board member resigned on Monday, while another was rejected by the Senate in an evening vote.
Oreal James resigned by way of a letter to Gov. JB Pritzker before going to the Senate for a vote. Hours later, Eleanor Kaye Wilson failed to get the 30 votes needed to confirm her appointment. Wilson received 15 votes to confirm her appointment and 31 votes against while 13 members did not vote.
Monday’s developments represented the latest shakeup on the governor-appointed board that has seen heavy Republican scrutiny in the past year as the Senate repeatedly delayed hearing several of Pritzker’s appointees to the board that determines whether offenders should be released from Illinois Department of Corrections custody and what the terms of their release should be.
The board also makes recommendations on clemency, arbitrates the calculation of good time credit, and reviews cases of those who violate the terms of their parole to decide whether they should be returned to prison. The job pays roughly $90,000 per year.
* Tribune…
The board has become a proxy for the larger political battle in Illinois over how to address crime heading into this year’s elections. Republicans have been critical of the board’s makeup under Pritzker, saying there has been a lack of transparency and an overly lenient attitude toward convicted criminals.
But even Senate Democrats have privately expressed reservations about Pritzker’s appointees to the board, according to a source familiar with the nomination process who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Records provided by the Senate GOP show that James and Wilson voted to release prisoners on parole in about 45% of all cases that came before them. On the Senate floor Monday night, Sen. Terri Bryant, a Republican from Murphysboro, cited Wilson’s votes in favor of the release of various convicted cop killers as a reason to reject her appointment.
Several senators have raised concerns about the board’s decision last year to approve parole for Joseph Hurst and Johnny Veal, two men accused of killing Chicago police officers more than 50 years ago.
* Sun-Times…
It’s the latest and most damning hiccup for a board that faced GOP-led accusations about the transparency of the governor’s appointments and the decisions of his nominees. The board’s duties include deciding which prisoners are eligible for parole and reviewing recommendations for executive clemency. It is under a microscope during a campaign year in which Republicans are accusing Pritzker of being soft on crime. […]
Senate Democrats did not take a position as a caucus on Wilson’s nomination. And in addition to the 14 voting against her appointment, another 12 Democratic senators opted not to vote at all.
“The murder of a police officer is more than an attack on an individual, it is an attack on the rule of law itself,” state Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, told the Sun-Times after voting against Wilson’s appointment.
“No individual who commits such a heinous crime should be eligible for parole. The Prisoner Review Board should ensure that the most severe crimes are met with the most severe sanction under the law.”
* ILGOP…
It’s been reported that Governor JB Pritzker will be at the Lincoln Statue at the State Capitol this morning to commemorate the Illinois State Police’s centennial anniversary with a press conference to follow.
As a reminder, a man who was previously denied parole and had served roughly 15% of his sentence for the murder of a state trooper was recently released by Pritzker’s Prisoner Review Board (PRB), utilizing new measures signed into law by the Governor to gain his freedom. The slain trooper’s family was not given the opportunity to object to the killer’s early release.
As reported by the Effingham Daily News…
“The man who killed Illinois State Police Trooper Layton Davis in 1976 was released from prison Thursday under a new law that allows parole for medical reasons.”
“Aaron Hyche, 71, who fired the shot that killed Davis, had been denied parole after a hearing in August. A relative of the trooper said the family was initially told the medical hearing would not be until March, and was surprised when Hyche was released before they could object.”
…
“The trooper’s family is upset they didn’t get to voice opinions about Hyche to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.”
It’s hard to square Pritzker’s honoring of state law enforcement today when he continues to stand by his handpicked PRB that voted to release Hyche.
PRB member Eleanor Wilson, who voted to release the cop killer’s accomplice, James Taylor, resigned this week rather than face further scrutiny for her decisions to release violent criminals from prison early. Pritzker praised Wilson, saying, “The Governor is disappointed that a highly qualified nominee will no longer be able to serve on the Prisoner Review Board and he thanks Eleanor Wilson for her service and dedication to justice.”
We have just one question for the Governor. On a day meant to remember the history and sacrifices of our state troopers, will Pritzker apologize to the family of Trooper Layton Davis?
…Adding… Gov. Pritzker’s office…
The Governor is disappointed that a highly qualified nominee will no longer be able to serve on the Prisoner Review Board and he thanks Eleanor Wilson for her service and dedication to justice. The Pritzker administration remains committed to ensuring that highly qualified nominees fill these critical roles on the Prisoner Review Board, especially because we must fulfill our constitutional and statutory obligations for clemency and parole as well as key public safety functions of the board.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Mar 29, 22 @ 8:40 am
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This episode hardly encourages “highly qualified nominees” to accept positions on state boards where they will have to take controversial positions if they are acting in good conscience. It suggests that the Governor and Senate will not have their backs.
This also shows why the Senate’s practice of not actually confirming (or rejecting) most nominees has a downside. Allowing most nominations to sit in the Senate without action ensures that members of boards and commissions must always look over their shoulder, instead of concentrating on doing what they think is right for the length of their term.
It’s a reminder that politics trumps good government.
Comment by Keyrock Tuesday, Mar 29, 22 @ 9:07 am
Crazy. It’s almost like there are negative consequences to the Dems deciding the problem is “soft on crime.”
Comment by SWSider Tuesday, Mar 29, 22 @ 9:11 am
Pritzker’s Board members are violating victims‘ Constitutional Rights? And they don’t address that in their tepid “disappointment” response? Keep it up BTIA.
Comment by Miso Tuesday, Mar 29, 22 @ 10:45 am
“violating victims‘ Constitutional Rights”
Please tell us 1) what constitutional rights were violated, and 2) where those rights can be found in the constitution.
– MrJM
Comment by MisterJayEm Tuesday, Mar 29, 22 @ 11:28 am
==No individual who commits such a heinous crime should be eligible for parole==
Your issue should be with the law that allows that sentence to include the possibility of parole. If you don’t want the PRB to consider parole for these guys then change the law.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Mar 29, 22 @ 12:33 pm
Politics trumps law and qualified appointees voting their conscience and using their judgment. No one is saying these appointees didn’t do their jobs in considering individual circumstances… no one is saying they didn’t do the work. Their only failing is considering individual cases of people who spent decades in jail for shooting officers and applying their judgment on what was appropriate decades later. I’m a through and through dem in a collar county. This doesn’t sit well with me.
Comment by Lincoln Lad Tuesday, Mar 29, 22 @ 12:33 pm
== change the law. ==
Can’t do that. These inmates were sentenced under the old system before determinate sentencing. Stripping them of parole eligibility with a new law now would violate the constitution’s ex post facto provisions. Only the PRB can decide whether they’re paroled or held for their entire term, not the legislature.
Comment by CLR Tuesday, Mar 29, 22 @ 12:56 pm
== Please tell us 1) what constitutional rights were violated, and 2) where those rights can be found in the constitution.==
Section 8.1 of the Illinois constitution. (A)6. Clear enough? Bite me.
Comment by Miso Tuesday, Mar 29, 22 @ 2:09 pm
“Section 8.1 of the Illinois constitution. (A)6.”
The article says that the family is unhappy that they didn’t get to *object* to the release, not that they weren’t *notified* of the release.
Maybe bite yourself.
– MrJM
Comment by MisterJayEm Tuesday, Mar 29, 22 @ 6:25 pm
They article says they weren’t notified until after the hearing.
Do better.
Comment by Miso Wednesday, Mar 30, 22 @ 7:04 am
What do think the notification is for? No objecting? Seriously, do better. Your bias is showing.
Comment by Miso Wednesday, Mar 30, 22 @ 7:05 am