By Benjamin Cox on May 27, 2021 at 6:44am
State Senator Steve McClure says that Senate Republicans are pushing the issue on confirmation hearings for Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Illinois Prison Review Board appointments. McClure says that he and his Republican colleagues on the Senate Appointments Committee have made a point to bring up the issue every day during session this month: “On the floor, in committee, at press conferences – we are trying to get the word out there because this is very serious. We have some dangerous people that have been getting released. I just saw recently that a child murderer was paroled based on a decision by the Prison Review Board made, and that person is now gone, disappeared. They are gone. The last time they were released, this similar thing happened and a 16 year old was murdered. This person was responsible for it. These are very serious decisions, and our job is to get this to the public on the floor of the Senate and in th
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.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.- Senate Republicans are angry with the way Gov. JB Pritzker has handled appointments of four members to the Illinois Prison Review Board (IPRB).
Republicans want transparency from Pritzker as they believe he is violating a constitutional requirement for appointments. The governor appointed four members of the IPRB shortly after he took office in early 2019.
Those board members make decisions on whether prisoners receive parole, releasing them from prison. However, the Illinois Senate did not approve the appointees which is required in the constitution.
Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) explained under the Illinois constitution, Senate members have 60 session days to approve the appointees. Yet, he said when the initial 60 days expired, Pritzker simply withdrew their appointments and then re-appointed them days later.