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| Quinn fast-tracks sentence legislation |
| By pantagraph.com |
| Published: 01/15/2010 |
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SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn approved tougher requirements for prison inmates Thursday as he tried to recover from a calamity involving the secret early release of hundreds of violent criminals. The Democrat signed legislation that forces all inmates to serve at least 60 days in state prison before they are eligible to have time shaved off their sentences for good behavior. "This law will protect the public while preserving the integrity of the criminal justice system and the court's sentencing of offenders," Quinn said in a prepared statement. The governor has yet to fully explain his involvement in the secret early release of more than 1,700 inmates, including hundreds of violent offenders, by his Corrections Department. The early release program is called "MGT Push" because it involves the acceleration of "meritorious good time" credits to inmates. To introduce the program, Corrections dropped a long-standing but informal policy of holding all inmates for at least 61 days. It instead awarded them as much as six months' good time upfront, before they had a chance to establish eligibility for the behavior-linked release program. The Associated Press revealed the program's existence in mid-December, reporting that criminals spent as little as three weeks behind bars, including county jail time. Quinn's staff initially defended the practice and denied anyone was released early. After the AP report disclosing the practice, Quinn said he knew about it and that it was well-advertised. Later, he said he didn't know about it and blamed the "big mistake" on Corrections Director Michael Randle. The governor told The (Springfield) State Journal-Register's editorial board Thursday that he met with Randle twice last summer and ordered no violent criminals be released early under cost-saving programs. He could not say why Randle had not told him about what he was doing before the AP report. As pressure mounts, Quinn, who faces state Comptroller Dan Hynes in the Feb. 2 Democratic gubernatorial primary, has responded by ordering Corrections to put extraordinarily harsh restrictions on parolees. They must follow the rules -- including checking in at parole offices twice a week and abstaining from alcohol -- or complete their sentences in prison. In just the past 11 days, documents reviewed by the AP show state officials have picked up 167 MGT Push parolees and returned them to the lockup. With 57 parolees thrown back in prison by the end of last month, including some for committing violent crimes such as attempted murder and armed robbery, more than 13 percent of the MGT Push roll call is back behind bars. The Quinn administration has not responded to questions about how much the "intensive compliance checks" or the roundup of parole-rule violators are costing. Michael Rodriguez, who had been serving a sentence for murder conspiracy before he was released early as part of MGT Push, was locked up again Wednesday night. Read More. |
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