RichardWanke.Com

The IL GOP, led by Kirk Dillard, put on media hype “hearings” in August 2010, trying to turn  IDOC Early Release, MGT, and Governor Quinn’s failed attempt to reduce IL prison overcrowding into a political issue for November 2010. This was at the same time that the Quinn administration released the Erickson Report spelling out ways in which Governor Quinn’s initial efforts at MGT were faulty and giving recommendations. Quinn has had the majority of these recommendations in place as new IDOC policy since then, but this is not satisfactory to the GOP who want crime and public safety to remain the focus of the upcoming November election.

Dillard’s GOP committee is now attempting to take political credit for the new IDOC policy initiated by Quinn by formalizing it into state legislation it announced that it has introduced today. Read the AP article here.

All this political gamemanship is a set-back to the hopes of IL inmates incarcerated in IDOC and their families who accepted plea deals and sentences upon the assurances of their attorneys and prosecutors that these meant that once at IDOC, they would qualify to receive MGT and time off their sentences to shorten their stay.

It means that MGT and IDOC proposals will continue to be fought over past the election, and that additional restrictions may hamper reinstatement of MGT. It also means that any Early Release program is unlikely to return.

The awarding of MGT and all Early Release programs have been suspended since January 2010, so the once over-crowded state prisons have become horrendously more over-crowded since then. Many inmates report harsh conditions and poor maintenance issues being aggravated this year due to overcrowding in conjunction with staff cutbacks and the IDOC agency money shortage. The action of the GOP is now requiring the Governor to shift the direction of his IDOC reform plan as …”Early release is not on my radar screen,” Quinn told The Associated Press earlier this week, adding that he is focusing on alternative sentencing approaches, and has also hired more prison guards.

So much for the hopes for quick action for those incarcerated and their families which are clearly now regarded as political pawns by the GOP. Inmates can look for relief from either political party perhaps in the Spring, and possibly later if the Republican Bill Brady becomes Governor in November. The Republicans are flexing their political muscle and showing that they will not be reasonable when it comes to considering any move that could be construed as them being “soft on crime”.

There are a lot of inmates in IDOC right now who are holding firm to the anticipation that come November 2010, the Governor in charge will reinstate the awarding of MGT and an Early Release program. These inmates have been carefully spoon-fed this delusion month-by-month by IDOC staff in the vain attempt to keep them well-behaved at a time when tempers and staff are both short. Political posturing like this will anger many.

The only action inmates, their families, and anyone sensible about criminal justice issues can take at this point is to thoroughly whip the Republicans at the polls in November in order to give Quinn a freer chance to make changes!