 An Associated Press report released Sunday showed that more than 850
inmates -- including repeat drunk drivers, drug users and even
people convicted of battery and weapons violations -- were released
early under the program since September.This happened because the
Corrections Department abandoned a policy that all prisoners serve
at least 61 days and gave inmates months of good-time credit
upfront.
Quinn ordered a "top-to-bottom" review of the practice on Sunday
after seeing the AP report. The Democrat would not say on Monday
whether Corrections Director Michael Randle told him about the
unpublicized practice, which is separate from an early release
program of 1,000 inmates Quinn announced in September to save money
in a budget crisis.
"The director of Corrections has broad authority, broad
discretion," the Democrat told reporters in Chicago. "Having said
that, I'm the governor, I make the final decisions. If I feel that
something needs to be looked at and reviewed, that's the way it will
be."
But critics and supporters criticized the program. They suggested
an examination to determine who's responsible, said if the governor
didn't know, he should have, and stressed that inmates entering
state prison should stay at least 30 days.
Dan Hynes, who is challenging Quinn in February's gubernatorial
primary, demanded a public investigation that begins with Quinn
himself, to determine who's responsible for the program and who will
be held accountable "on such obvious issues of public safety."
He ridiculed it as another of Quinn's "misadventures in
transparency," criticizing the governor for what he claimed were
recent attempts to bury information about his administration.
"Given the potential immediate safety risk to communities across
Illinois, I strongly encourage the review to be completed and the
public made fully aware of its findings within a matter of days,"
the state comptroller said.
If Quinn, who would not criticize Randle, didn't know before the
report appeared, his staff did. Spokesman Bob Reed defended the
practice last week, saying in response to questions from the AP,
"These offenders were not released early. ... They received some
sort of good-time credit."
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State law allows the prison director to award up to six months of
good-time credit to inmates not accused of seriously violent
offenses. Corrections previously required all incoming inmates to
serve at least 61 days before receiving good time.
Officials dropped that requirement so they could spare the
expense of transferring inmates to other prisons for short stints.
And they were awarding the good time upfront, making some inmates
eligible for release almost immediately.
Requiring a minimum stay gives an offender a taste of prison and
allows officials to determine whether he deserves the credit, said
Mike Noland, D-Elgin, chairman of the Senate Criminal Law Committee.
"On some level, they're a danger to society, and we have an
obligation to ensure that to some measure the sentence is carried
out," Noland said. "The message to the offenders has to be, there's
more of this ahead for them if they don't correct their behavior."
Noland said he would be open to discussing legislation setting a
minimum state prison stay of at least 30 days. He also stressed the
Legislature must close a multibillion-dollar budget gap to ensure
proper incarceration practices.
[Associated Press;
By JOHN O'CONNOR]
Associated Press writer Deanna
Bellandi in Chicago contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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