* The overreaction by Gov. Pat Quinn to stories about how the Department of Corrections released violent prisoners against his direct orders has caused some serious problems…

Without MGT, and Randle’s ramped-up version, tagged MGT-Push, the state effectively put a lid on its often overcrowded prisons. The result is the number of inmates in Illinois prisons has exploded to an all-time high of 48,760 as of Feb. 14.

“We shot ourselves in the foot by ending MGT,” DOC senior policy analyst Cory Foster told an audience at Northwestern School of Law in December.

During its brief, three-month tenure, MGT-Push allowed the early release of 1,754 inmates. Another 24,172 prisoners in 2009 were eligible for good-time credits under MGT. Keeping them behind bars (the numbers represent about half of the state’s total prison population) for lengthier stays increases the likelihood of violence against other inmates and for prison staff, said John Maki, executive director of The John Howard Association of Illinois, a nonprofit group that monitors Illinois prisons.

“Overcrowding undermines the cost effectiveness of our prison system and threatens the safety of correctional officers and inmates. It decreases the chances that inmates will have access to rehabilitative services, which increases the likelihood that they’ll re-offend once they are released,” said Maki.

MGT-Push was the problem. It was carried out against the governor’s direct orders. MGT has been around for years and was not necessarily the problem. But, as is typical when the media kicks up a ruckus, the administration overreacted and stopped everything. And now the prisons are filled to the rafters.

* The Belleville police have new operating rules…

Belleville police are making more traffic stops because of a new rule that they make two self-initiated contacts per 12-hour shift. Those can include any combination of traffic tickets, traffic warnings and field interview reports.

In January 2010, before the requirement was in place for those assigned to patrol, officers wrote nine speeding tickets and 13 warning tickets. Last month, the first full month of the new rule, officers wrote 45 speeding tickets and 165 warning tickets.

Also, for all of 2010, police made 2,259 traffic stops. In January, the first full month of the two-contacts-per-day standard, police made 1,603 stops — 70 percent of last year’s total, all in one month.

Police Chief William Clay said it’s not just busy work, and it’s not about money from tickets. It’s his initiative to get officers more proactively engaged with the public. He thinks that’s the best way to address crime. In other words, the more contact officers have with the public, the more likely the officers are to find people with drugs, guns or arrest warrants.

Looks like the policy is “working,” but it really comes close to a quota system. Actually, it is a quota system, but it isn’t technically a ticket quota system.

* US District Judge James Zagel says he may hand out “No Trespassing” signs to jurors in Rod Blagojevich’s upcoming trial…

Zagel said he was troubled by juror accounts after the first trial that they had been hounded by reporters in the hours and days following their verdict. A helicopter hovered over one juror’s home, and another juror complained that the same reporter rang the doorbell every half an hour, according to the judge. […]

The judge referred to the news media as “rapacious” at one point in the hearing and expressed concern that the dogged pursuit of jurors after a verdict will deter people from wanting to serve.

“We have clear evidence that some members of the media will disregard the ordinary rights of citizens … to get the story,” Zagel said.

Rapacious…

1. Taking by force; plundering.
2. Greedy; ravenous. See Synonyms at voracious.
3. Subsisting on live prey.

Yikes.

* And an undaunted Sen. Dan Duffy continues his fight against red light cameras…

Early this year Duffy introduced SB0026, a bill that would make it illegal for red-light cameras to be used to ticket drivers who turn right during a red light.

Duffy himself has received a ticket for a red-light violation after failing to come to a complete stop when he made a right turn during a red light. He said this infraction produces about 90 percent of all red-light tickets.

“Put a ‘No Turn On Red’ sign there, don’t bait the hook by putting a camera there that picks people out if they don’t stop on the white line,” Duffy said.

Actually, Sen. Duffy has received two red light camera tickets. Here’s the video from his second citation…

The problem isn’t that there was no “No Turn On Red” sign at the intersection. You are allowed to turn on red at that light. But you’re supposed to stop first.

* Related…

* Dangerous doctors slipping through the cracks - It took the discovery of guns and grenades to suspend the license of a psychiatrist who some say should have come under scrutiny years earlier

* Illinois Blue Cross and Blue Shield to pay $25 million fraud settlement - Plan reportedly denied coverage to sick children in need of nursing care by “fraudulently” shifting their claims to Illinois’ Medicaid program

* Attorney General Madigan Announces Bill to Strengthen Illinois Prevailing Wage Act

* Environmental groups say agribusiness lobbying to blame for weak pollution regulations

* Foreman Stole $270K from O’Hare Project: Cops

* Quinn says Bishop Tutu, ‘Dead Man Walking’ nun lobbying him to sign death penalty ban