Both Eleanor Wilson, whose appointment was voted down by the state Senate, and Oreal James, who resigned, drew sharp criticism for their votes last year to grant parole to Joseph Hurst and Johnny Veal, two men accused of killing police officers.
Delivering a sharp rebuke to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the state Senate on Monday rejected one of his nominees to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, a longtime consultant who is also a godmother to former President Barack Obama’s daughters.
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.