As the two articles below indicate, US AG Eric Holder criticized U.S. incrimination and rehabilitation policy of criminals because it does very little to combat the likelihood of a criminal re-offending.
The country’s top federal law enforcement official says there are too many people in prison. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made the remark in Chicago yesterday to members of the American Bar Association.
“Today, one out of every 100 adults in America is incarcerated — the highest incarceration rate in the world,” he said. But the country has reached a point of diminishing returns at which putting even greater percentages of America’s citizens behind bars won’t cut the crime rate.
That’s in part because once people spend time in prison, they’re likely to keep engaging in the kind of behavior that sends them back to prison, he said.
“Most crimes in America are committed by people who have committed crimes before,” Holder said. “About 67 percent of former state prisoners and 40 percent of former federal prisoners are re-arrested within three years of release. If we can reduce the rate of recidivism, we will directly reduce the crime rate.”
Prisoners who undergo drug treatment and/or work training in prison are 16 percent less likely to re-offend after their release, he said.
* If you want some anecdotal evidence of the problem with criminals repeating their past mistakes, here is one that is also good for a laugh…
An 86-year-old Chicago woman was arrested for the 61st time over the weekend — for shoplifting anti-wrinkle cream from a North Side grocery, police said.
Ella Orko’s first arrest, for petty larceny, came in 1956.
So here is today’s question: Do you think there is a problem with the way the U.S. approaches criminal rehabilitation? If you have a problem with the current practice of incarceration as rehabilitation, please provide an alternative.
Rep. Kirk held a press conference yesterday in which he attacked Obama’s health care plan and presented a competing plan of his own. This press conference was not a campaign event, but odds are good that this decision will have much greater impact upon the U.S. senate race for IL then it will have upon reform efforts in D.C. I am having a hard time finding the political end game in this decision, so perhaps some group discussion might help. Here are the facts as reported by the media…
* Kirk’s plan was apparently light on detail and the press conference was mostly focused at attacking Obama’s proposed plan instead of explaining his own alternative…
Kirk’s plan, formed with U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania and 34 members of the Tuesday Group of moderate Republicans in Congress, would pass a Medical Rights and Reform Act, intending in Kirk’s words to “guarantee your right to your doctor” and prevent government interference in that, and would attempt to cut costs through reforms in medical liability and health insurance. Yet, lacking monetary specifics, it was mainly an attack on the proposed $1 trillion plan for health-care reform now being debated in Congress.[…]
* A centerpiece to Kirk’s plan would be “lawsuit reform” to reduce the costs from defensive medicine
that are created when malpractice lawsuits are left unchecked…
U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) promoted what he called a “centrist” approach to health care reform he said could cut health care costs in half.
As proof he offered the difference between New Jersey, where health insurance costs $5,326 per patient, and California, where insurance costs $2,565 per patient.
Kirk attributes the difference in large part to the limits California has placed on the amount of money juries can award victims of doctors’ mistakes. Lawyers say California’s lower rates comes from state’s strict regulation of insurance companies.
Kirk backs both “lawsuit reform” and “insurance reform” as part of a three-pronged effort to reform health care funding.
* Kirk called his plan bipartisan, but in reality he meant the opposition to the president’s plan was bipartisan…
KIRK: The House bill is a very partisan bill at extraordinary expense, complication. And it’s the bi-partisan feeling is on the opposition to this bill, not in favor of it.
Kirk calls his proposal a centrist bill that would cut health care costs while covering the uninsured. The congressman says his plan is a bi-partisan measure, but he says no Democrats have signed on to it yet.
Although he presented his plan as a “bipartisan” proposal, he admitted it had no Democratic backing, blaming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
“At this stage, the speaker is extraordinarily authoritative,” Kirk said, “and the penalties for breaking ranks with her are severe.”
* Kirk is surely right on about the fact that Obama’s plan faces opposition from both sides of the aisle…
There’s no doubt there’s resistance to health-care reform, especially along party lines. U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, a Wheaton Republican, said he’s heard “incredibly strong and forceful” criticism from constituents. “They’re just not convinced that the government-run option is going to be anything other than a prelude to a single-payer system,” he said.[…]
Even U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, a Barrington Democrat, said she’s heard from voters on both sides and remains “unconvinced” the Democratic plan is worth the cost.
* Kirk claimed the number of uninsured people was drastically overestimated once illegal immigrants were taken out of the equation, though fact checks have not reproduced his figure of only 8 million uninsured Americans…
Kirk maintained that federal census estimates of 45.7 million uninsured Americans in 2007 were overstated, saying it included 9.5 million “non-citizens,” 12 million who were eligible for existing public health care coverage and another 16.4 million who were either in higher income brackets and didn’t purchase insurance or were temporarily uninsured. The real number, he said, was 7.8 million uninsured.
The non-partisan Web site Factcheck.org has tried to go through the numbers and notes that about 9.7 million uninsured are immigrants—but they are both legal and illegal. One group cited by the fact-checking organization suggested that 5.6 million may be undocumented.
* For good measure, here is an ABC 7 local piece on the press conference that hits on a variety of the issues discussed above…
* Also, in the fact column is that IL is considered a solid Democratically minded state (as discussed yesterday)
So what is the deal here? And I am not talking about whether you agree with his ideology or where you stand on health care. I do not question his beliefs. On a solely practical political level of ‘how do I get myself elected’, does this seem wise in IL?
Perhaps Kirk is just trying to cement his primary victory by reinforcing his conservative credentials after his vote for the Cap and Trade bill. Who knows?
I am not foolish enough to claim that it was a poor decision, and I am not wise enough to know what decision would be best.
Time, or should I say the voters, will be the judge.
First -even though Gov. Quinn cut the budget by an additional $1 billion on Friday- make no mistake, IL still has a gigantic budget hole…
The cuts announced Friday do not solve the problem. They only postpone the immediate crisis. The budget is still about $1.4 billion out of whack - and that doesn’t count the bills the state is leaving unpaid, which add up to nearly $4 billion.
* There is a very thin silver lining from Friday’s budget decisions; school funding will not be cut as drastically as originally feared…
In outlining $1 billion worth of budget cuts last Friday, Quinn also restored $85 million for early childhood education. The restoration largely offset a $123 million cut that was announced in July, when the Illinois State Board of Education stripped about $400 million from several programs because of state government’s overall budget troubles.
The $123 million reduction would have represented about a 30 percent decrease compared with a year ago. Advocates said it would mean that 30,000 kids couldn’t attend pre-school.
Now, the blow won’t be so harsh. State Board of Education spokesman Matt Vanover said Monday that the infusion of $85 million means early childhood programs will see about a 10 percent cut.
Sean Noble of Voices for Illinois Children said the partial restoration is an “important but very limited” victory.
“Cuts are cuts, and children and families are going to be feeling the effects of cuts, regardless of whether it’s one in 10 kids or one in three kids,” said Noble, director of government relations. “It’s still going to be felt, and it’s still going to be painful.”
The new state budget remains billions of dollars out of balance and relies heavily on borrowing, he said.
Diana Rauner, executive director of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, said that restoring some of the preschool funding “doesn’t mask the gaping hole in the state budget.”
* The IL Department of Corrections is with out question the hardest hit from the announced lay offs…
Now that Gov. Pat Quinn has announced his budget cut plans, layoffs of prison workers will take effect Sept. 30.
He plans to lay off more than 400 workers at the Decatur, East Moline, Lincoln, Logan, Vandalia and Vienna facilities in a first phase of job cuts. The second phase could bring the tally to more than 1,000 layoffs.
The exact number that will be laid off in the 1st round of cuts is 419. Legislators are working to soften the 2nd round of cuts
Illinois Representative Mike Boland (D) said Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and the AFSCME members are working to find a way to save some of those jobs by having employees forego pay raises and take furlough days. Boland pointed out less staff could put lives at stake. “The cuts, obviously, endanger people. Not only the prisoners in the prison but also the guards and other staff.”
* Carol Marin examines the impact of budget cuts on human service providers. There is plenty of hurt to go around, but the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois says they might have to stop providing state services. LSSI currently provide services to 70,000 people. It’s 15 minutes long, but its worth a look…
Horrible news all around it seems, but don’t shot the messenger. Someone is surely to blame, I would not presume to know, but some in the media feel confident they can identify the culprit.
* The South Town Star looks at who is really to blame for this budget nightmare…
Lawmakers willingly gave Quinn the job of making cuts. Rather than send him a specific spending plan with line item appropriations, they dedicated the money in lump sums. They rejected his call for an income tax increase, gave him the machete and headed back to their districts.[…]
State Rep. Kevin McCarthy (D-Orland Park), for example, is a big proponent of the state’s Monetary Award Program offered through the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. MAP funding provides nearly $400 million in interest-free tuition grants to low income students statewide. He has advocated on behalf of the program for years.
But it’s a program the state can’t afford right now, according to Quinn. No MAP funding will be available for the spring 2010 semester. Fall grants will be drastically reduced.
McCarthy voted against a temporary income tax increase proposal that came before the House. No income tax, no money for MAP.
* The Pantagraph editorial board also puts the blame squarely on the GA…
You can blame Gov. Pat Quinn for the impact from $1 billion in budget cuts he announced Friday - with few details.
But blame should also be shared with lawmakers - both Republicans and Democrats - who shirked their responsibility by not reaching agreement on specific cuts and, instead, chucking the hot potato in Quinn’s lap.
And unionized state employees who will be laid off or face additional burdens picking up the work of those who are laid off can place blame on union representatives.
Those representatives stuck to the “raise taxes” line instead of granting concessions, such as pay freezes or furloughs, that would have allowed the pain to be shared and minimized the impact on individuals.
* U of I Board of Trustee Chairman Shah resigned on Monday in the wake of continuing fallout from the admissions scandal…
Niranjan Shah said in a letter to Gov. Pat Quinn that he decided to step down after members of a state commission investigating the admissions practices said they believed the trustees should resign.[…]
Quinn said Monday he accepted Shah’s resignation, which is effective in 90 days, or sooner if a successor is in place. He said the search for a successor would begin immediately.
* Shah is the second board member to resign, and pressure continues to mount for 6 of the remaining 7 members to follow suit. (The 7th member, Edward McMillan, only just joined the board in May) Quinn, however, might not give them the chance…
Sneed hears Gov. Quinn is this/close to cleaning out the detritus caused by the University of Illinois student admissions scandal. “He wants the students to return to a new fall semester at the university [Aug. 24],” said a source.
• • The buckshot: “The governor is this/close to using his eraser bigtime,” said a source, referencing the clout-wielding power of the university’s board of trustees.
* The Tribune believes the root of the scandal is much deeper then just the Board of Trustees itself…
But replacing the trustees doesn’t address the whole problem. More than half the applicants on the Category I list were sponsored by lawmakers, who horned in on the admissions process through the university’s lobbyists, not through the trustees. Herman and President B. Joseph White should have blocked both routes, but didn’t, which is just one reason why both should resign or be fired.
Firing the lawmakers is up to voters, though. We hope they’ll think long and hard about it. (You can check on your own legislator’s involvement by visiting the Tribune database at chicagotribune.com/requests.)
Purging the board of trustees won’t protect the U. of I. as long as governors and lawmakers regard admission to the state’s flagship university as an entitlement of office. How the trustees are chosen is the least of our problems. We should worry more about choosing our elected officials.
We don’t know a lot of specifics in this case, and I am not saying that unethical use of ‘clout’ did not happen with some or all of the U of I special admissions.
Sure, some politicians may have offered their recommendation as part of a quid-pro-quo. Much of the time, however, a letter of recommendation is simply a legitimate and normal constituent service.
I interned in a U.S. Congressional Office in 2007, and one of my duties was to write letters of recommendations for constituents (for college applications, military training programs, etc.). In no way was I involved in unethical clout peddling.
* Yesterday, the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association and the Illinois Municipal League sent separate letters to Gov. Quinn that lobbied against the proposed FOIA rewrite bill, which passed both chambers by a total vote of 174-1 and is currently sitting on Gov. Quinn’s desk.
The letters deal with different specific areas for concern, but in general, both organizations are opposed to the rewrite of FOIA if it creates a public access counselor…
In separate letters to Quinn, the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association and Illinois Municipal League portray the new FOIA bill as too costly, a threat to law enforcement, an undue burden on local governments and a usurpation of prosecutors’ duties by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, among many other things.
Of particular concern to both groups is what we consider perhaps the most important part of the new Freedom of Information Act: the establishment of a Public Access Counselor within the attorney general’s office who would act as the final authority in cases where a government body has denied a request for records, documents or other information.
* There is a good deal of skepticism in in the policy community regarding the true motivations for their opposition to bill…
Under the bill, local governments can forward FOIA requests to the public access counselor, abide by whatever decision the counselor makes and be released from all legal liability. Citizens denied requests can also seek review from the public access counselor. That’s a good deal for citizens and for government, Smith said.
“In fact, this bill makes your [municipalities] life easier,” Smith said. “We are here and in need of this law because public bodies and municipalities and the state has thumbed its nose at FOIA on the backs of citizens for years and years and years and years.
“I think public bodies have gotten very comfortable with a toothless law,” Smith said.
Brown said he was surprised the letter has generated “so much attention.”
Maybe he is unaware that for 20 years good government groups have been trying to rewrite the law. Maybe he’s unaware that powerful public officials in this state have always opposed it.
All I know for sure is that state’s attorneys throughout Illinois, who have never done anything to make the bad old law tougher, don’t like the new and improved one.
And that makes me wonder who they’re really representing.
* And the SJ-R Editorial Board does not pull any punches…
The Illinois Municipal League, meanwhile, tells Quinn that the new FOIA bill is nothing less than a threat to public safety.
“It is regrettable that there may be cases where municipalities will be forced to lay off firefighters and police officers so that they can afford more FOIA lawyers and other responders to help comply with this ‘primary duty,’” the IML writes.
The IML goes on for six pages listing details of problems it sees with the bill, but we will boil them down to this: This law will make it way more difficult for government bodies to deny citizen requests for government records, documents and information.
Likewise, we’ll summarize the state’s attorneys’ objection to creation of the PAC system: This law threatens our power, even though it’s power we’ve almost never used before.
I don’t know if their motivations are sinister or not, but it’s hard not to have questions.
* Related…
* Problems with Proposed Lobbying Changes: One of the hit-or-miss bills that passed the General Assembly this year was SB 54, which, among other things, made substantial changes to the Lobbyist Registration Act (LRA). The genesis of the LRA portion of the bill is plainly found in HB 736, which ICPR supported, but SB 54 differs in some key ways.
* The 2010 election cycle is officially underway in IL today as candidates may begin to collect the signatures required to appear on the February 2nd primary ballot.
The Illinois primary is the earliest in the nation, and so is its filing process. Candidates begin filing petitions Oct. 26, effectively setting the stage for a shortened 14-week campaign season shoehorned around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Several candidates have decided to formally declare for office Tuesday, the first day their volunteers can circulate candidacy petitions.[…]
The campaign season is accelerated this time as a result of a change in Illinois election law that moved the primary elections up from March to February to help favorite son Obama’s Democratic presidential bid. While other states opted to leave their non-presidential-year primaries later in the calendar, Illinois made the move permanent for its statewide primary.
* If your are interested in running for public office, keep in mind that you can’t win if you are not on the ballot…
But the regulars often count on one thing: They know how the election system works and ordinary citizens do not. A lot of well-intentioned would-be candidates get kicked off the ballot because they didn’t follow the rules. Many will sabotage themselves from the moment they begin collecting petition signatures.
The rules that govern petitions are complex and unforgiving. Lawmakers have crafted those hard-to-satisfy rules because — take your pick — (a) an aspiring candidate should have to demonstrate discipline and smarts, or (b) the more complicated the process, the more it’s as good as rigged to protect incumbents and their political parties.
Ah…I’ll have to go with option ‘a’ on that one. My youth could mislead me here, so someone please correct me if I am wrong, but Obama’s first political victory (his IL Senate seat) was obtained by getting his primary opponents, including the incumbent, kicked off the ballot for not following correct filing procedure. The rules are the rules, and candidates -incumbent or not- whom don’t know the rules will get no sympathy from me.
Of course, you need supporters to win regardless of how meticulously you follow procedure.
* Speaking of endorsements, the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters threw their support behind Comptroller Dan Hynes for governor yesterday…
“Dan is someone who possesses the integrity and trust we are looking for to lead the state as governor,” Carpenters’ union president Frank Libby said in a statement.[…]
The Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters represents 47,000 members in Illinois, southeast Wisconsin and eastern Iowa, including members in the 28 northernmost counties of Illinois.
While certainly not a make or break endorsement, the fight between Quinn and Hynes for union endorsements should be fun to watch…
The backing of union labor, particularly trade unions, will be closely watched in the Democratic primary. Quinn pushed for the state’s first major public works construction program in a decade, urging lawmakers to act quickly to spur job creation and take advantage of the summer construction season. But Quinn delayed signing the measure in a failed attempt to try to gain leverage for legislative passage of a state income-tax increase.
The question is how do black aldermen justify turning down 500 jobs and a major construction project when there’s nothing else on the horizon?[…]
“There are two big concerns. When Wal-Mart comes into a rural area, Wal-Mart killed all the business in their area. In urban areas, you lose retail sales revenue in the surrounding area,” Lyle said.
“Because there is a finite amount of money in every community, if you have a change in the spending pattern and take on a new player, that means the other players are going to suffer,” she said.
In other words, Lyle is worried about what will become of the predominantly black-owned businesses that sell some of the items Wal-Mart will stock.
Teamsters Local 726 — one of two hold-out unions to refuse Mayor Daley’s demand for cost-cutting concessions — has been placed in trusteeship amid allegations of financial malfeasance.
The surprise action by James Hoffa, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, swept out all seven elected leaders of Local 726, including union president John Falzone, secretary-treasurer Tom Clair and trustee Michael Marcantant.
* 24 city post office sites among 1,000 nationally that might close
The Postal Service is considering closing 24 retail sites in Chicago, among 1,000 closures being considered nationally as it faces a potential $7 billion loss this fiscal year.
The Postal Service has been struggling with a sharp decline in mail volume as people and businesses switch to e-mail both for personal contact and bill paying. No closure day was been set.
On June 1, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 84 into law, repealing the six-month notice requirement for victims of accidents involving the Chicago Transit Authority. Though the legislation received little attention in the press, it brings about a significant change for people injured due to negligent behavior by CTA employees.
The new law applies to CTA accidents that happened after the bill was signed into law. In the past, injury victims and their attorneys were required to notify the CTA within six months of an accident. In some situations, legitimate claims against the CTA were dismissed because of clerical errors or simple mistakes in pre-suit notices.
“I think we ought to discuss it,” said Peoria County Board member Carol Trumpe. “What you don’t see is how much it costs on the other side. People that gamble away money, and families are left short. People least likely to afford it are the ones who are going to participate. So many problems go along with gambling.”
If approved, such a ban would apply to 53 taverns, restaurants and the like with liquor licenses in unincorporated Peoria County, though not all even offer video gaming. It would not apply to incorporated areas including Dunlap, Chillicothe, Bartonville and Elmwood.[…]
The state will collect 30 percent of net income from each machine in taxes. Five-sixths of that money goes into a state capital projects fund, and one-sixth goes to a local government fund, with money distributed in proportion to tax revenue generated from the machines within a municipality’s borders.
If you made a purchase in the city of Peoria in July, you might just want to check that sales receipt. The city has found at least a dozen businesses were overcharging in sales tax.
PetsMart, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy and multiple stores inside Northwoods Mall are just some of the businesses that were charging 9% instead of 8% in sales tax.
There is no solid wind farm proposal yet — no maps or legal descriptions have been drawn up — because the county does not have an ordinance that allows wind farms.
Still, Navitas has a project in mind.
It’s a 100-turbine farm that straddles Stephenson, Ogle and Winnebago counties. Forty of those turbines would be in Winnebago County.
DePaul University wants zoning approval to overhaul its Lincoln Park campus — and dramatically improve its fine arts appeal — by building new schools for theater and music, a new academic center and by redeveloping Fullerton Avenue with a hotel and student and market-rate housing.
A Chicago-based consulting firm is trying to grapple with plunging stocks amid an accounting scandal.
Huron Consulting Group’s stocks plummeted 69 percent Monday, down to $13.69 a share. That comes after the company announced it will restate its earnings starting from fiscal year 2006 through the first quarter of 2009.
“Ninety percent of the value of the commodities fell overnight,” said Brian Dickerson, one of BLH’s owners. “It’s now about 50 percent of what it was earlier in 2008. I’ll be happy when it gets to 70 percent.”
A growing number of children are becoming part of the cell phone nation at young ages. According to national data from Chicago-based C&R Research, only 7 percent of children ages 8 to 11 had cell phones in 2003. But by last year, that had grown to 26 percent.
In the same period, the percentage of children 12 to 14 with their own cell phones nearly tripled, rising from 21 percent to 58 percent, according to C&R Research.
Six Chicago area men have been charged in a family-affair tax fraud scheme that allegedly involved using federal inmates’ identities to file for $35 million in tax refunds.
* S. Sider faked calls as CTA controller, feds allege
A South Side man is accused of endangering thousands of lives by allegedly impersonating a CTA traffic controller and radioing bogus instructions to train operators.
U.S. Reps. Luis Gutierrez, Mike Quigley and Danny Davis have signed a letter to Obama that says laws need to be passed that keep immigrant families together, protect workers and provide safe migration opportunities.
Four other Democratic Illinois congressmen also signed the letter, which is circulating in the U.S. House of Representatives.
