Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: Crain’s finds major flaws with Illinois population migration “study”
Next Post: *** UPDATED x1 *** Caption contest!
Posted in:
* Subscribers know that the Democratic governor has had serious problems dealing with the Senate Executive Appointments Committee for a long while now. I think that can explain some of this Center Square article…
For two years, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has used a loophole in Illinois’ political appointment law to shield his picks for the state’s prison review board from legislative scrutiny.
That’s the accusation from a Republican member of the Illinois Senate Executive Appointments Committee.
In their Monday news conference from Springfield, Bryant and Sens. Steve McClure and Jason Plummer said the governor’s office appoints members of the review board and allows them to serve in an acting capacity. Once their two-year time limit nears where they must be considered for approval by lawmakers, they said Pritzker withdraws their nomination and reappoints them, restarting their tenure as acting board members.
“This isn’t OK, it isn’t responsible,” said Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro. “It’s a little maneuver that isn’t what our Constitution was designed to allow.”
Pritzker’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“This is a clear and intentional manipulation of the process by the governor of the state of Illinois,” said Plummer, an Edwardsville Republican. “What we have here is an intentional tactic to skirt the process in an effort to hide these individuals from the public and the people of Illinois.”
The Senate Republicans have released a report entitled “Illinois Prisoner Review Board Appointee Scandal.”
* WLDS…
According to the report released yesterday, the Illinois Prison Review Board has made the controversial decision to parole the following prisoners over the last two years: 68 year old Johnny Veal who was convicted in the murder of Chicago Police officers in 1970; 77 year old Joseph Hurst who was convicted of killing Chicago Police Officer Herman Stallworth and wounding another in 1967 while on parole for armed robbery; the former Theodore Parsons 63, who was convicted of murdering two Mahomet, IL teens in 1977; 82 year old Charles Weger, who was convicted of raping and murdering a woman at Starved Rock State Park in 1961; and 71 year old George Peter who was convicted of rape and murder of a 14 year old girl in 1967 in Chicago. The report specifically called out the Parsons case due to his release in March of this year with the State of Illinois failing to notify family members of the victims that Parsons was set to have a parole hearing.
As a result of these findings, Senate Republicans have filed an amendment to Senate Bill 1475, an ethics omnibus bill. The amendment to the bill would aim to speed up the prison review board confirmation process, requiring the appointments to be confirmed within 90 days of appointment. Failure to confirm or reject within that time period would be an automatic rejection. Additionally, the bill prohibits the governor from withdrawing a member appointment and reappointing them within a span of 2 years.
I haven’t given that deadline idea much thought, but at first blush it might not be horrible. It would definitely put pressure on both the governor and the Senate to get on the same page.
* Response from Jordan Abudayyeh…
For the Prisoner Review Board to be able to undertake its difficult and complex mission, members must be able to make parole determinations entirely independently. Subjecting members to political grandstanding sets a new and dangerous precedent for this constitutional function.
The members’ appointments and votes are transparent, and their meetings are open to the public. Additionally, the Senate Executive Appointments Committee sets the schedule for confirming gubernatorial appointees, and it is routine practice for appointees to be withdrawn so that the Senate has more time to consider the appointments.
Background…
The Prisoner Review Board considers the age and length of time served when making parole determinations.
Appointments
• Joe Ruggiero was appointed by Governor Rauner in July of 2018, but was not confirmed prior to his term’s expiration in early 2021, at which point Governor Pritzker re-appointed him to a new term, similarly only a few days prior to the March hearing.
• Aurthur Mae Perkins was confirmed unanimously by the Senate after her appointment by Rauner in March of 2015, and had a term expire at the start of 2021, which resulted in a re-appointment by Governor Pritzker a few days prior to the originally-scheduled hearing in March of this year.
• Oreal James and Eleanor Kaye Wilson were both appointed in April 2019 and then withdrawn and reappointed, so the Senate committee had more time to review their appointments.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 25, 21 @ 9:52 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: Crain’s finds major flaws with Illinois population migration “study”
Next Post: *** UPDATED x1 *** Caption contest!
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Gee, they’re so soft on crime, these men only spent half a century in jail.
I get the crimes are horrendous, but the pearl cluthching, as always, is too much
Comment by Perrid Tuesday, May 25, 21 @ 10:06 am
Is there a reason why the Senate hasn’t taken up confirmation on the appointments?
Comment by Chicagonk Tuesday, May 25, 21 @ 10:11 am
This seems to be on the Appointments Committee, who constantly leaves gubernatorial appointees in an acting limbo for years without any public explanation (how long have we had an Acting IDOT Secretary, now?). If they have a problem with the candidates, they should show some bravery and vote them down.
Comment by NIU Grad Tuesday, May 25, 21 @ 10:13 am
PRB membership has been a prime landing spot for patronage for decades.
Dem or Repub, there has been some real winners on that outfit, many ignorant of laws that governed where parolees could reside.
Not defending current practices, but Bryant’s pearl-clutching is as big a joke as her entire political career.
Comment by Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter Tuesday, May 25, 21 @ 10:18 am
Grandstanding? Why the extraordinary delays here? And Senator Plummer needs to dig further across multiple agencies. This problem isn’t only limited to the Prison Review Board.
Comment by Louis G Atsaves Tuesday, May 25, 21 @ 10:19 am
Inside the clubhouse squabble. Fans won’t care.
Comment by walker Tuesday, May 25, 21 @ 10:22 am
Would love to get a comment from the senators about Trump’s practice of avoiding US Senate confirmation for department secretaries and other high-ranking positions.
Just to, you know, see if there’s a consistent philosophical principle or if something else could be at play.
Comment by Moe Berg Tuesday, May 25, 21 @ 10:53 am
Constitution says:
“SECTION 9. GOVERNOR - APPOINTING POWER
*. *. *
Any nomination not acted upon by the Senate within 60 session
days after the receipt thereof shall be deemed to have
received the advice and consent of the Senate.”
There’s two scandals here. (1)Senate routinely fails to consider nominations in a timely fashion, thereby allowing (2)Governor to game the system and revoke-and-renominate folks. If the governor did nothing, they would be automatically confirmed, thereby ending the governor’s control (or lessening it) of independent boards and commissions. As it stands, the revoking/renominating allows the governor to wipe clean an entire board if he wishes at a moment’s notice. Senate could end this by timely reviewing nominations.
Comment by Withdrawal Tuesday, May 25, 21 @ 12:03 pm
100% agree with NIU Grad. Post-Blagojevich the Senate Executive Appointments committee has often sat on appointees and left them hanging as “Acting” for long periods, sometimes their entire term. Usually done as a signal to the appointee, agency and/or Governor that a Senator is unhappy about something. As long as they are unhappy the person remains “Acting”. Due to Blago, the GA amended the Illinois Government Ethics Act to cut down on gubernatorial game playing on appointments, they should now look inward.
Comment by Derek Smalls Tuesday, May 25, 21 @ 12:36 pm