Democrats Folly Blaming Republicans for Governor's Prisoner Review Board Nominees
A Prisoner Review Board meeting in 2015. (Photo: Illinois Public Media)
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OPINION
A Chicago Tribune story Monday highlighted concerns from advocates and Governor JB Pritzker’s office over the gubernatorial-appointed and Senate-confirmed Prisoner Review Board for denying too many parole applications made by longtime, mostly violent offenders.
And their accusations are a bit…batty.
Just to refresh your memory: the Prisoner Review Board is made up of a partisan-balanced (currently seven Democrats, five Republicans, and one independent) that decide whether to grant parole to inmates in the Department of Corrections.
Republicans raised a stink in 2021 and 2022 over a series of appointments made by Pritzker, including a 2022 vote where 14 Democrats joined Republicans to sink one of Pritzker’s nominees to the board.
Of the 13 current members of the Prisoner Review Board, 12 are Pritzker appointees.
But advocates say the Board is moving “rightward” because it isn’t approving parole applications at the same clip as it did previously, even though there was some bad PR with some pretty icky characters being put back on the street.
Republicans, specifically Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville), Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro), and Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield), did a good job of raising the public profile of the issue in 2021 and 2022. But Democrats have 40 votes in the Senate and can approve anyone they want if they can keep their own caucus in line.
But, when some Democrats get sheepish after convicted cop killers get released, apparently that’s the GOP’s fault.
From the Trib story:
Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough said the governor has worked to recruit candidates for the board and blamed “politicized attacks on board members, from lawmakers in the Senate, during confirmation hearings, and in the press” for making that process more difficult.
Emily Miller, a Senior Advisor to the Governor for Policy and Legislative Affairs, fired off a series of nearly incoherent tweets in response to the story Monday blaming seemingly both Republicans and Democrats for the makeup of the board.
“The minority party in the Illinois Senate claims (sic) their "biggest accomplishment yet" because some Dem colleagues leaned into a right-wing-law-and-order agenda that dehumanizes incarcerated people and turns back the clock on criminal justice reforms,” she wrote. “Getting accolades from Rs for refusing to confirm Dem nominees is weird goal for a Dem supermajority & leads to lopsided decisions. PRB members make decisions using judgement that comes from lived experience. That’s enriched by a diversity of lived experience.”
She continued to blame Republicans, who have the power of a hummingbird in a hurricane, for the scrutiny of some of Pritzker’s appointees.
“Some legislators got scared in the wake of the SAFE-T Act and as a result, many PRB members who had impartially reviewed all the facts of a case and determined that a person should be released became un-confirmable,” she wrote. “The Exec branch can only do so much on our own. What a waste.”
I’m sure the $8 million Don Harmon is sitting on and the hundreds of millions the Governor has already thrown into the state political arena could dissuade the fears of the vulnerable Democrats in the chamber.
So who is PRB denying?
In August and July, the board denied six parole applications and granted one. Four of the denials were for violent murder charges, another for rape, and another for sexual assault of a child.
One of those denied was 70-year-old Eddie Pitts, who stabbed and killed a People’s Gas technician in 1976 and was sentenced to 150-300 years in prison. His hearing revealed he believed God told him to commit the murder.
Another, 67-year-old Roosevelt Clay was convicted in a triple murder in 1975. He also faces a natural life sentence in Wisconsin and maintains his innocence. He was considered a “high risk” for recidivism.
78-year-old Raymond Larson was denied in July. In 1972 he shot and killed a 16-year-old boy and committed a sexual assault. He was released in 2021 but violated his parole. He was rejected unanimously.
While Republicans are taking victory laps and Democrats are throwing barbs, let’s remember parole is not a guarantee. There should be a high standard to be released from prison early and a serious, credible plan to return to society.
If Democrats want to lower that burden, they should approve more lenient PRB nominees. But they should prepare for the political consequences if they do.
