Second investigatory panel emphasizes public safety
August 27, 2010
Lawmakers heard from DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett, as well as advocates and family members of victims and prison reform groups Aug. 25 at the second meeting of the Illinois Joint Investigatory Panel on Early Release.
State Sen. Radogno said Birkett cautioned lawmakers to make public safety the top priority when considering any prisoner early-release program. Any inmate who is released early without having clearly demonstrated a clear commitment to rehabilitation is a “high-risk” release, Birkett warned.
The Panel is examining controversial early-release programs in Illinois, including one unpublicized program established under Gov. Pat Quinn that allowed the early release of nearly 2,000 prisoners, including violent offenders.
The early-release programs were the subject of a highly critical report from retired Judge David Erickson released Aug. 13, two days after the first Joint Panel meeting in Peoria. That report concluded that Quinn’s Department of Corrections failed to adequately protect public safety and released inmates early for “meritorious” behavior “simply by virtue of being delivered into DOC (Department of Corrections) custody.”
Birkett testified before lawmakers and witnesses who gathered at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago for the Aug. 25 meeting. He said it was clear from the timing of prisoner releases that occurred under the controversial Meritorious Good Time (MGT Push) Program, that the Illinois Department of Corrections released criminals before they could have possibly received information on the prisoners from local prosecutors and law enforcement personnel.
Read more: Second investigatory panel emphasizes public safety
Clarification on Blagojevich Disqualification from Office
August 27, 2010
Sen. Radogno responded to news reports that former Governor Rod Blagojevich has indicated an interest in again running for office if his current felony conviction is overturned on appeal, and if he is not convicted of other offenses in his second trial.
The Senator said reporters, editors and interviewers should be aware that Rod Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office on January 29, 2009. As part of that impeachment proceeding he was disqualified from holding state or local public office in Illinois.
Sen. Radogno wants to be clear that the prohibition on holding public office is not contingent upon the results of any criminal proceeding against Rod Blagojevich, including any future appeal of his felony conviction or the outcome of a future trial.
For more information you can read further coverage on both the Daily Herald’s and the Bloomington Pantagraph’s Web sites.
This week in the Illinois Senate...
August 20, 2010
This week, legislation intended to generate much-needed revenue was signed into law, which Sen. Radogno said will provide a five-week amnesty period for tax delinquents.
Senate Bill 377 (PA 96-1435) allows individuals who have accumulated back taxes between June 30, 2002, and July 1, 2009, to pay those taxes penalty-free from Oct. 1 to Nov. 8 without being fined. Tax delinquents who don’t pay during the amnesty period will see all interest and penalties double.
Officials hope that by providing incentive for tax delinquents to cough up their overdue obligations the program will bring in tardy tax dollars, as opposed to spending state time and energy pursuing the tax delinquents.
The tax amnesty program was initially projected to return about $350 million, a prediction based on projections from the state’s 2003 tax amnesty program. However, recent data from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability and the Department of Revenue indicate the program is more likely to return about $170 million.
Also this week, two bills were signed into law to encourage solar energy use.
House Bill 6202 (PA 96-1437) changes the date that Commonwealth Edison and Ameren are required to begin ramping up their renewable solar requirement. Previously, the electric suppliers had a 2015 deadline, but will now be required to show that 0.5 percent of the power is purchased from solar sources by 2012. The requirement will then incrementally increase over time and by 2015, six percent of power must be purchased from solar sources.
House Bill 5429 (PA 96-1436) creates a Homeowners’ Solar Energy Act that will protect homeowners’ rights to develop, install and use solar energy in their homes as long as they follow certain guidelines. The law specifically prohibits homeowners associations and condominium associations from prohibiting the installation of solar panels, but does not apply to buildings that are greater than 30 feet in height.
Radogno Issues Statement on Blagojevich Trial
August 17, 2010
Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) issued the following statement upon the conclusion of the trial of former Governor Rod Blagojevich.
"One of my biggest concerns is that the Blagojevich defense team may have convinced people that he was just practicing politics as usual in Illinois. If that is the case, it is a real indictment of the political leadership in this state. If there is one thing that elected officials need to do in Illinois, it is to send a strong signal that the politics of the past are over, regardless of what the final verdict may be in the Blagojevich trial.
"I intend to redouble my efforts to achieve fundamental, structural reforms of state government. It is our job as elected officials to make sure the public has confidence in the integrity of their government. We all have a responsibility to send a clear signal that Illinoisans do not need to tolerate even the appearance of conflicts of interest by elected officials.
"That means reforming state contracting rules to guarantee competition and protect against political influence. Elected officials need to get out of the business of lobbying. We need to end legislative scholarships and other outdated perks. We need real campaign finance reform. We need to make government more open and transparent and that means opening up the legislative process and empowering individual legislators to follow the will of their constituents.
"We need a clean break from the past so that no corrupt politician can ever again claim to be simply following business as usual."
Report on Prisoner Early Release Calls Program a Failure
August 13, 2010
Just two days after the Governor's office refused to participate in a legislative inquiry into the program, the administration released its long-awaited internal investigation. The release followed the appointment of a special Illinois Joint Investigatory Panel on Early Release, formed by Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) and House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego).
The report prompted Radogno and Cross to again renew their request for the administration to testify before the panel.
Former Judge David Erickson's report, first commissioned in December, declared the Meritorious Good Time (MGT) Push program a failure and said the Quinn administration used the program as a means of reducing prison populations, rather than rewarding inmates for good behavior.
"...inmates had to do little or nothing to demonstrate 'meritorious' conduct deserving MGT Credit awards and then, given the perceived irrevocability of MGT Credit, could do nothing to jeopardize their awards.
"Under MGT Push and under the old MGT program, inmates were labeled as 'meritorious' simply by virtue of being delivered into DOC custody," the report said.
Administration Knew About It
When news broke of the "MGT Push" program, Governor Quinn claimed he was unaware of the program.
However, during the press conference to announce the results of the investigation, Judge Erickson said "hundreds and hundreds and hundreds" of persons knew about the program, including "the people at work in the administration."
The revelation raised questions how Quinn could not have known that such a controversial program was being carried out by his own administration.
In discussing the use of the term "secret" to describe the early release program, Erickson said, "Well that's just about the worst secret I ever heard... hundreds of people worked in the system and knew about it... 1,700 people were released. Their lawyers knew about it. They knew about it. Their families knew about it. The people at work in the administration knew about it...
"All I know is when more than one person knows something it's not a secret and when hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people know, it's certainly not a secret."
Radogno Clarifies Issue of Prisoner Tracking Computers
During the press conference on Friday, members of the Quinn administration once again leveled a misleading claim regarding funding for a new inmate tracking system at the Illinois Department of Corrections.
That prompted Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) to issue the following statement.
"In 2009, when the four legislative leaders and the Governor were negotiating a $30 billion capital measure, the Governor never once raised the issue of computers for the Department of Corrections. The Governor had substantial input into the projects identified in the capital measure and did not allocate or seek any funding for a computer system at the Department of Corrections.
"In last year's operating budget, over $3 billion in discretionary lump sums were handed to the Governor to spend in any way he chose. Again this year, the Governor has a similar amount available for discretionary spending. In fact, this Governor has received more flexibility than any governor in the history of the state to allocate money any way he chooses.
"To suggest that legislators of either party have somehow prevented him from upgrading the prisoner tracking system at the Department of Corrections is just not true.
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