Full Text of HR0509 99th General Assembly
HR0509 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Governor Rauner has called for a bold, pragmatic | 3 | | new approach to criminal justice, correctly noting that our | 4 | | prison system is significantly overcrowded and the corrections | 5 | | budget is far too large; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Governor Rauner has created the Illinois State | 7 | | Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform to | 8 | | deliberate on the most fundamental questions of criminal | 9 | | justice policy, with a mandate to provide recommendations to | 10 | | the General Assembly by December of 2015; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Governor Rauner's Executive Order establishing | 12 | | the Commission reaffirmed that, under Article I, Section 11 of | 13 | | the Illinois Constitution, sentencing statutes must embrace | 14 | | the twin goals of prescribing penalties commensurate with the | 15 | | seriousness of the offense and restoring offenders to useful | 16 | | citizenship; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, The Commission's task is to reduce the State's | 18 | | prison population by 25% over the next 10 years, from the | 19 | | current 49,000 prisoners to a more manageable 35,000 prisoners; | 20 | | and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, The growth of the prison population to such |
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| 1 | | unsustainable figures stems from several factors, including 2 | 2 | | policy decisions by previous General Assemblies: the abolition | 3 | | of parole in 1979 and the elimination in 1998 of the ability to | 4 | | earn good conduct credit in prison for a large number of | 5 | | offenses, which triggered far lengthier sentences for inmates | 6 | | than had previously been the case; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The lack of any sentence review by a parole board | 8 | | or a judge for inmates sentenced after 1979 has left thousands | 9 | | of prisoners who no longer pose any threat to public safety and | 10 | | are truly remorseful for their crimes stuck in prison at | 11 | | tremendous taxpayer cost; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, The elimination of the ability to earn good | 13 | | conduct in prison for a large number of offenses effectively | 14 | | doubled the sentences for those offenses, creating a major cost | 15 | | driver for taxpayers; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, In order to bring our prison capacity and the | 17 | | Illinois Department of Corrections budget under control, we as | 18 | | a State must find a safe, reasonable, and intelligent method to | 19 | | release some prisoners earlier than their original sentence | 20 | | length that considers their changed circumstances and remorse, | 21 | | as well as the impact on victims and communities, while | 22 | | allowing for healing and reconciliation whenever possible; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Illinois' large prison population forces | 2 | | difficult budgetary decisions, including the reduction of | 3 | | programs that facilitate rehabilitation; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Rehabilitation is possible for offenders, | 5 | | particularly youthful offenders and offenders who receive | 6 | | educational programming; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Without some sort of sentence review process | 8 | | implemented, Illinois will not be able to meet the Governor's | 9 | | visionary and pragmatic goal of reducing our prison population | 10 | | by 25% over the next 10 years; therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 12 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 13 | | congratulate Governor Rauner on his leadership and vision in | 14 | | criminal justice reform; and be it further
| 15 | | RESOLVED, That we call upon the members of the Illinois | 16 | | State Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform to | 17 | | deliberate and develop a 21st century method of implementing a | 18 | | sentencing review regime that alleviates taxpayers of the | 19 | | burden of housing and feeding inmates that no longer pose any | 20 | | threat to public safety and are truly remorseful for their | 21 | | crimes; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 | | delivered to the Governor and the members of the Illinois State | 3 | | Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform.
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