Gov. Quinn to set 1,000 inmates free early

Gov. Quinn to set 1,000 inmates free early
BY DAVE McKINNEY
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
September 18, 2009
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1778603,pat-quinn-inmate-release-budget-091809.article


SPRINGFIELD—In another byproduct of Illinois’ fiscal woes, Gov. Quinn Friday signed off on the early release of 1,000 non-violent prison inmates who will be sent home this fall.

Quinn’s move is expected to save the state $5 million annually.

“We’re doing this because of the budget crisis as well as to enforce Gov. Quinn’s prison-reform efforts. We believe these low-level, non-violent offenders…can be better served in the community where there are more resources and services available than at IDOC,” said Januari Smith, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Drug offenders and inmates convicted of non-violent property crimes with a year or less remaining on their sentences are among those being set free early. Those with homicide or sex offense convictions are not eligible for early release, she said.

Those sent home early each will be assigned a parole agent and required to wear electronic-monitoring ankle bracelets upon their early release, she said. The freed inmates will have to report to their parole agents once a month, Smith said.

The state has 400 parole agents, who are responsible for overseeing and monitoring more than 30,000 adult and juvenile parolees.

Those being released early under Quinn’s plan still have not been notified because the state prison system has not yet determined who among the roughly 32,000 inmates convicted of non-violent crimes will be set free early.

She said prisoners will be notified of their early release “very, very soon.”

Former GOP Gov. George Ryan, facing his own budget crisis in the months after 9/11, weighed the early release of 4,500 non-violent criminals during April 2002 but dropped the plan after being skewered on newspaper editorial pages.

Quinn’s administration confirmed the announcement late in the afternoon Friday, a point in the news cycle historically when negative headlines draw little public attention.

The announcement came on the same day when authorities nabbed fugitive and accused bank robber Robert Maday in West Chicago. While his record of violent crimes would make him ineligible for early release under Quinn’s program, Maday’s violent escape put suburbia on edge and could cast an unfavorable light on the governor’s plan.

A spokesman for Quinn’s primary rival, Comptroller Dan Hynes, said Maday’s arrest is likely why the administration announced the early-inmate-release initiative with such limited fanfare.

“I think he is aware this won’t be a popular move and released it accordingly,” Hynes spokesman Matt McGrath said.

But Smith, the prisons spokeswoman, stressed the inmates sent home are not expected to make Illinois’ streets and neighborhoods less safe.

“It’s important to know these are low-level, non-violent offenders who’ll be coming back to the community in a year anyway. What we want to do is get them the resources, the services they need, to rehabilitate themselves to re-enter society successfully,” she said.