Category: IDOC
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Illinois death penalty decision leaves uncertainty – chicagotribune.com
CHICAGO — Ten years after Illinois halted executions, the uncertainty over Gov. Pat Quinn’s pending decision on whether to end capital punishment for good raises a number of questions about the state’s current death penalty cases and the 15 men on death row. A bill recently passed by the state House and Senate would abolish…
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I-Team: Motions Denied for Woman Who Claims Wrongful Conviction
LAS VEGAS — A woman who claims she was wrongly convicted of the murder and sexual mutilation of a homeless man spent a disappointing morning in court. Judge Valorie Vega denied Kirstin “Blaise” Lobato’s request to test and re-test physical evidence that she believes may help to prove her innocence. Jurors convicted Lobato twice for the…
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Top Texas Court Orders End to Hearing on Constitutionality of Death Penalty – News – ABA Journal
By Debra Cassens Weiss The top criminal court in Texas has ruled that a trial judge may not hold a hearing on the constitutionality of the death penalty when a capital murder defendant has not yet faced trial. The Court of Criminal Appeals permanently halted the inquiry by Judge Kevin Fine in a 6-2 decision,…
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Workman’s Comp at Menard Correctional Center: the tip of the iceberg?
“In the past three years, $30.6 million was awarded to about 725 state employees in settlements who filed workmen’s compensation claims for repetitive trauma injuries caused by typing or unlocking prison cells. An additional $4.3 million was paid to all state claimants who missed work while recuperating from doctor-ordered time off or corrective surgery for…
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IL Legislature Finally Passes Income Tax Hike!
The political mess-up with IDOC and the resultant suspension of Meritorious Good Time defined the whole of 2010. Parole, work release, home monitor, direct treatment, educational programs and alternatives to incarceration were negatively impacted by legislative inaction in addressing this problem. Meritorious awarding of inmate credits for schooling and various treatment programs proceeded and committee…
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Bill to Repeal the Illinois Death Penalty goes to Gov. Quinn to Sign!
If Quinn signs this bill into law, it will be one of the most historic pieces of legislation he signs. It is a step towards progress for the State and legislators to recognize that the Illinois Death Penalty has been a futile and expensive attempt to thwart murder. “…Illinois “ought to be embarrassed” by its…
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Unlikely advocate wants to free death row inmate – St. Petersburg Times
By Leonora LaPeter Anton, Times Staff Writer It was a Sunday, visiting hours in the Death Row Cafe. (…) The men in orange jumpsuits sat at stainless steel tables with relatives, friends, pen pals. They ate microwaved burgers purchased for a dollar at a tiny window. They laughed and played dominoes and Scrabble. They clutched…
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The Innocence Project: the court of last resort | Law | The Observer
Sarfraz Manzoor The Observer, Sunday 9 January 201 In the US, the Innocence Project has freed 260 people imprisoned for crimes they did not commit – and inspired a new film starring Hilary Swank. In the UK the work is just beginning, but the lawyers who only take the most desperate cases of injustice have a…
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Prison officials silent about Pontiac incident
By Michele Steinbacher PONTIAC — State prison officials remained quiet Friday about why a hazardous-materials team from Bloomington was called to Pontiac Correctional Center. “It’s an ongoing investigation,” said Sharyn Elman, a Chicago-based Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman. She declined further comment other than reiterating what she’d said Thursday, including that no one was injured…
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IL Death Penalty May be near End
Mixed news at IDOC today: First a hazardous materials scare at Pontiac Prison: a suspicious powder was found someplace on the prison grounds shortly after 3pm according to Pontiac news report here, and the Bloomington Pantagraph, here. Although a decontamination tent was set up in the parking lot, no one was reportedly injured and it…