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This just in… Brady responds to early release controversy
Monday, May 17, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller * 5:02 pm - Bill Brady has now responded to the news that Gov. Quinn didn’t have his facts straight when he blamed the Prisoner Review Board for the early release of an inmate who went on to murder a grandmother…
A more than minor quibble. The PRB recommended a 69-day term for Edjuan Payne. Quinn’s Department of Corrections recommended a 60-day term. Payne served the 69 days recommended by PRB and got out in March. Either way, Payne would’ve been out on the street this month, when he allegedly murdered that poor woman. The problem is Quinn claimed a few days ago that the Prisoner Review Board was supposed to keep Payne locked up until July, insisting that the July release was recommended by his own administration. That statement, however, is not true. DoC actually recommended an earlier release. The problem here is not who is responsible for letting a guy out of prison so he could murder somebody. The problem is that the governor once again relied on either bungled or untrue information from the Department of Corrections. The bottom line is the director needs to go. Period. *** 5:07 pm *** Click here to read both the Prisoner Review Board’s order that Payne be held for 69 days and, on page three, the Department of Corrections’ Parole Violation Report which recommends that Payne be held for “two months.”
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- Elliott Ness - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 5:09 pm:
Quinn needs to show some leadership, in a time when there is none in government, and fire the Director of Corrections. He has waited too long putting the blame where it belongs.
- wordslinger - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 5:13 pm:
–Governor Quinn owes the family and the people of Illinois some clear answers on what happened and what didn’t happen–
In all seriousness, that’s a very good idea. Corrections are an area that most people want to turn their heads, and just hope for the best. Some sober debate would be a good idea.
Kind of like the budget. Senator Brady, you’ve been running for governor for 10 years. You have access to the best research on governtment efficiency.
Do you have the back of an envelope and a pencil stub so you could at least sketch out an outline of a fiscal plan?
No one’s stopping you. Won’t take long.
- doc - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 5:24 pm:
Folks, everyone’s jumping the gun. ONLY THE PRB can rule on when an offender is released on a parole violation. The IDOC has no say in this matter, only on the initial violation. Randle played no part in this.
- ShadyBillBrady - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 5:24 pm:
To be fair wordslinger, it’s only been about 6 years of campaigning, not quite 10.
And, while Quinn certainly has some work to do unless he wants these DoC issues to keep holding him hostage politically, I’m not sure how much credibility Brady has regarding early release information … I mean, really.
- George - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 5:27 pm:
Question: Is the only recommendation from DOC the original report from the parole agent that you attached? Or is there any other document from someone higher up?
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 5:29 pm:
As I said in a previous thread, this is partly a budget issue. (As, it seems, is almost everything.) In that sense, Brady need to state whether or no he would favor put the DOC budget where it needs to be to fully staff the prisons.
It’s also a question of the rules governing early release of prisoners. The rules in place allowed this guy out.
It’s also a question of rehabilitation. We lock people up in a sociopathic society for years, make little, if any, attempt to rehabilitate them, and then put them back on the street in a worse personal condition than when they were arrested. We know they will be released, but we don’t want to spend money on the anything proven to reduce recidivism (ie. education).
It’s amazing that instead of turning this into a question of necessary policy changes (re. the budget, release rules, rehabilitation, etc.) the Quinn Administration makes silly excuses without checking the facts.
- AP - PRB - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 5:30 pm:
Thanks to Rich for his typically awesome sleuthing - getting a hold of the PRB order and the parole violation report add to this discussion what has been missing–hard facts.
1. DOC’s notice of violation specifies three different parole violations. PRB’s hearing officer found probable cause to support each of the three violations. However, the PRB’s final order clearly lists the board itself made a finding of only ONE violation - failure to report to parole officer. If PRB was “acting on DOC’s recommendations” why did it disregard TWO of three violations, without any explanation, even after the PRB’s own administrative hearing officer found probable cause for all three violations? Why did they disregard evidence of the alcohol violation? Why doesnt the PRB’s order (which has various places in which to specify evidence consider) note the violent history of the offender or his problems with alcohol, which are clearly stated in the parole violation report, that PRB claims it relied on?
I don’t know that the PRB is giving us the whole scoop here.
- 47th Ward - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 5:32 pm:
===Lying in a puddle next to Davis with a fractured skull was the infant, 8-month-old Aaliyah Gaston. The baby had spent hours there in intermittent rain and survived.===
That visual from the news story has been haunting me all day. The facts hardly matter next to the horror of the crime. God be with the family of the victim, and God help any politician who plays games with this tragedy.
- wordslinger - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 5:34 pm:
–To be fair wordslinger, it’s only been about 6 years of campaigning, not quite 10.–
You’re right. Mea culpa.
By the way, the Brady spot is running quite a bit in Chicago. Quinn better respond.
- AP - PRB - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 6:05 pm:
2. PRB says that it acted on a DOC recommendation to let the inmate out at “two months.” The Illinois Administrative Code, Section 1610.160 - Dispositions - states that if the panel at PRB determines that an adult parole violation has occurred, it may do only one of the following:
1. Continue parole (release inmate) with or without new conditions;
2. Parole (release) inmate to a halfway house.
3. Revoke Parole and Reconfine Inmate to Jail for the Remainder of the inmate’s Mandatory Supervised Release.
Note that the PRB’s own rules DO NOT AUTHORIZE it to re-incarcerate a parolee for two months, followed by a period of parole until the end of the offender’s mandatory supervised release.
PRB, under its own rules, has three options for adult parole violators: it can release them on parole until msr is up, it can reincarcerate them until msr is up, or it can parole them to a halfway house.
There is no legal basis for the Board to have ordered a hybrid remedy - a period of reincarceration, followed by a period of parole.
In other words, if as the PRB claims, it was acting on the advice of DOC in keeping Payne for 69 days (why nine days longer than the supposed “recommendation” of 60 days?), it is therefore admitting that it acted illegally and in violation of administrative rules it promulgated. A two-month jail stint, followed by parole until msr is up approach is simply not something that they are allowed to do.
The FACTS appear to be that the appropriate remedy was exactly what was said in Peoria — the inmate should have been reincarcerated for the remainder of the mandatory supervised release - until july, 2010.
Also, if the two months was recommendation of DOC, why do neither of the PRB documents specify that recommendation as the evidence for making the decision that they made?
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 6:07 pm:
==Quinn better respond.==
By governing instead of some off-the-cuff excuse with little relation to reality.
- Chicago Cynic - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 6:16 pm:
This is a horrible crime and a horrible tragedy. And while specific PQ administration actions may not have prevented or caused it, that’s no excuse for the chaos that has taken hold over at DOC.
Randle needed to go months ago. Instead, they scapegoated some internal folks and the bloodletting continues. Rather than the mess being cleaned up, it’s becoming more problematic with each passing day.
Rather than take charge and cut his losses, PQ doubled down. Now he owns DOC.
- Anonymous - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 6:28 pm:
This is a sad tragic affair and ones heart goes out to the famly and victim of senseless violence. Randle is not the problem and whether this guy spent another month or two or six days or 600 more days more in prison isnt the issue. Certainly, the Governor should check facts and reality before pontificating and fingerpointing. would be good if Quinn would govern as well. It would be interesting to know what direction quinn has provided randle.
And for Brady this shouldnt be a political football. Get real folks. Dealing with crime and prisoners is serious business.
the tragedy here is lack of programs within DOC and ineffective parole supervision. This is what needs to change not the Director and change can occur without more money by realigning current expentirues and responsibility. Over 80% of the DOC budget or more than 800 million dollars is allocated to personell. Surely there are ways to
- Park - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 6:46 pm:
It’s too early for all this parry & thrust. Blago will give us a break….opening at a courthouse near you June 3d.
But memo to all future candidates, R or D. These early release programs ALWAYS come back to bite you.
- Bubs - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 6:48 pm:
==The problem is that the governor once again relied on either bungled or untrue information from the Department of Corrections.==
How do we know that this is the sole explanation? We just don’t know why Quinn said what he said.
Seems to me that the bottom of this story hasn’t been reached yet.
- Reformer - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 6:58 pm:
It’s another building block in Quinn’s reputation for incompetence.
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 7:27 pm:
==These early release programs ALWAYS come back to bite you.=
True enough. And it has little to do with early release and a lot to do with the lack of any effort toward rehab. Let them out early or keep them for the whole sentence. When they get out, then what?
- Anonymous - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 7:35 pm:
amen Pot you are so right
- Park - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 9:08 pm:
Yes, Rehab the early released murderers. Figure out how, you’ll will a Nobel. But in the meantime, keep them away from law abiding people. That’s what prisons are for.
- C'mon Man - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 9:28 pm:
I’m a Quinn supporter but “C’mon man!” Dump the DOC chief. He’s dragged you down and will just keep doing so. How can you hope to win with this stuff going on? Plus, what new DOC stories can we expect with each passing month between now and November?
- Chubs Mahoney - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 9:49 pm:
Tragedies like this can happen regardless of who the Corrections director, let alone the Governor, is. It’s just dirty to exploit it for political gain. No amount of prayerful disclaimers can obscure that.
Also - Brady’s release points the finger at “Quinn’s own Corrections Board” … what ‘Board’ is he talking about? From the DOC Parole Violation Report, it looks like the DOC recommendation was (as a matter of routine) suggested by one person in the agency.
- Hawk Harrelson - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 10:08 pm:
If Hawk Harrelson were calling the game, he had the following to say re: Quinn’s egregious mishandling of PRB —–
“He gone!”
- OneMan - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 10:19 pm:
I guess I have never really gotten Quinn’s loyalty to the DOC head. He is relatively new, from out of state and DOC has had nothing but issues….
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, May 17, 10 @ 11:40 pm:
==Rehab the early released murderers.==
This guy had completed his murder sentence in 2006. This was early release on a criminal damage to property charge. He was getting out soon anyway.
==But in the meantime, keep them away from law abiding people. That’s what prisons are for.==
That’s the problem. We warehouse these people with little thought to what will happen when their sentence is done.
- Louis Howe - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 6:31 am:
Actually, Quinn’s management problem is Quinn himself. He makes the same mistake over and over again. He throws inexperienced young people into crisis situations, and then when that doesn’t work, denies he’s got a problem.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 7:20 am:
It is pretty hard to figure out Quinn’s management style. It seems to be mostly saying I am a good guy, who loves the “people” no governance just grandstanding political speeches and flipflopping all over the place. Quinn get grounded, govern, manage the departments.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 8:45 am:
i also heard the early release program was benos idea. Testifying against Blago that will be interesting
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 9:08 am:
This is a tragedy that many voters will not forget. They will put the blame squarely on Quinn. If African American voters care as much about violent crime as they poll, this Quinn mix-up will make them question voting for him.
Quinn has given Brady an opening and the Senator is taking it all the way. You can spin this any way you wish, but Quinn brought this on himself, handled it badly, and will pay the price. Caterwalling at Brady over other issues will not help Quinn over this.
- Festus Hagen - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 9:24 am:
When Quinn brought the current Department of Corrections Chief to Illinois from Ohio (where this guy was still being investigated by the Ohio Inspector General for “improprieties” that were committed in Ohio prisons under his watch, Pat Quinn immediately raised eyebrows and had many of us in Illinois scratching our heads.
Governor Quinn just can’t bear the thought of saying, “Perhaps I acted hastily and poorly in picking Mr. Randles.” If Quinn simply corrected his previous mistake by letting Randles go and replacing Michael Randles, people might begin to think that Pat Quinn is actually capable of making good decisions on his own. Now, there is a scary thought.
- jonbtuba - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 9:28 am:
The Brady release seems to have a mischaracterization. It implies Quinn knew the information he had was wrong when he used it, which doesn’t make sense. Quinn may have been misinformed by the DOC, but it doesn’t mean he knew that at the time.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 9:37 am:
woul be good if quinn would check facts before spouting forth
- unspun - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 9:52 am:
So the Chairman of the PRB blames his own, sole, STATUTORY decision on the “recommendation” of a single parole agent? The Chairman might as well shout from the rooftops that his job is irrelevant, and that he is just a rubber stamp for parole agent recommendations. As the eyes and ears monitoring their caseloads, parole agents make notes and observations about their cases. However, the agent’s job is limited in scope (purposely), and does not authorize or empower him/her to adjudicate parole; that’s the PRB’s primary function. PRB should wear the jacket on this one.
- dupage dan - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 10:00 am:
Voters won’t concern themselves with the details of this program. They will see the governor as the point man in this situation. In an election year appearances matter most. There will be alot of political news during this summer what with the RB trial and the campaign heating up. It is too late for Quinn to come out with an explanation for this, the damage is done. Brady will make sure this is driven home, if he has any smarts. Dukakis may have had a reasonable explanation for the Willie Horton incident but look where that got him. Standing by your DoC man after this debacle will not play well. It doens’t matter if the DoC was to blame or not. Perceptions rule.
- law enforcement vet - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 11:02 am:
Dem Donkey, you heard wrong about Benos. I know that she was one of the only voices raising concerns about the program, but her good reputation will survive this. This sounds like a slur perpetuated by the stunningly incompetent layer of Lt. Gov office rejects that the Governor installed when he didn’t have the stones to fire the Director. Brady should ask what this layer of boobs is costing the state.