Mt. Vernon Register-News

Opinion

December 14, 2009

Our View: Answers demanded on prison release issue

In September, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced a plan that would allow for early release of 1,000 prisoners within the state up to a year earlier than their release dates. The plan was announced as a method of saving money for the cash-strapped state.

Imagine Quinn’s embarrassment over the weekend when contacted by The Associated Press regarding an investigative report that pointed out current release statistics such as the following:

“Jorge Bogas spent just 18 days behind bars for aggravated driving under the influence after he hit two cars, hospitalizing one motorist for weeks, while driving the wrong direction on Interstate 57. Bogas sat five days in Cook County Jail, was transferred to the processing center at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet and released 13 days later.

“James Walker-Bey, sentenced to a year for violating probation for carrying a .25 caliber pistol in Alsip, was confined for just over two weeks — three days in Cook County and 14 at Stateville prison.”

After the AP report hit the wires, Quinn nearly instantly called for a “top to bottom” review of the state’s prison release system. “Top” should start with Quinn himself. If the early release is not part of the plan announced in September — as reported by The Associated Press — the governor should communicate with residents exactly why and how the early release methods occurred. If someone — anyone — decided to make such drastic decisions, they should be held accountable at least in the public eye.

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