Senate GOP Say Pritzker "Skirting" Constitution with Prison Review Board Appointments
Three Senate Republicans say Governor JB Pritzker is “skirting” the constitution to prevent confirmation votes on potentially controversial appointments to the state Prisoner Review Board.
Three Senate Republicans say Governor JB Pritzker is engaging in a “shady tactic” to prevent hearings and votes on members of the state board that decides whether to release prisoners.
15 members of the Prisoner Review Board are nominated by the Governor, approved by the Senate, and act independently of the Department of Corrections in deciding whether to grant someone parole from prison. The Senate must act on those appointments within 60 session days.
Republicans say the Pritzker administration is afraid four appointees to the Prisoner Review Board will be criticized for their votes to release violent criminals back on to the streets, causing potential headaches for Senators who support them, or for the Governor in re-election.
In turn, Pritzker has taken four appointments he made early in his administration in 2019 that haven’t received a Senate vote, withdrawn them, and re-appointed them the same day or two days later to restart the clock of their appointments.
“This is a clear and intentional manipulation of the process by the Governor,” said Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville), the top Republican on the Senate Executive Appointments Committee.
Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) says the administration is “hiding” the appointments from questioning and scrutiny by the committee.
Pritzker nominated Arthur Mae Perkins of Peoria and Joseph Ruggiero of Wheaton to the Review Board March 21, 2019, after taking office about two months before. He withdrew the appointments March 12 of this year and reappointed each the same day.
Both Perkins and Ruggiero were originally appointed to the board by Republican Governor Bruce Rauner.
Pritzker also nominated Oreal James and Eleanor Wilson of Chicago to the Board April 2, 2019. Both were withdrawn March 23 of this year and reappointed two days later.
The GOP members say either some, or all, of Pritzker’s appointees have voted to release violent criminals from prison and back into the community. They outlined five specific cases, including Johnny Veal, who killed two Chicago Police officers in 1970 and Joseph Hurst who killed a Chicago officer in 1967. Both were released by the Prisoner Review Board in February.
“There’s no reason and there’s no excuse to not fully review these appointees immediately,” said Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro), who spent 20 years with the Illinois Department of Corrections. “This isn’t ok. It isn’t responsible, it’s a maneuver that our constitution wasn’t designed to allow.”
Bryant says she believes Senate Democrats are too afraid to tell the Governor the appointees won’t survive a confirmation vote because they don’t want to be held responsible for the paroles in an election year.
A spokesperson for Sen. Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines), the Chair of the Executive Appointments Committee, did not respond to The Illinoize Monday evening. In a statement provided to Capitol News Illinois, Murphy asked for patience.
“The Executive Appointments Committee follows a 60-session-day clock on all appointees, and we’ll ensure no appointee is in danger of their time expiring before they are brought before the committee. We ask that everyone be patient during this process until the time is appropriate for these appointments to be considered,” Murphy wrote.
If the appointees aren’t given a vote before the Senate adjourns May 31, it’s likely they’ll continue to serve in an interim role until sometime in early 2022.
The Governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
