Full Text of HR0991 096th General Assembly
HR0991 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Since December 2009, serious questions have been | 3 |
| raised about Illinois Department of Corrections programs to | 4 |
| grant early releases to prisoners assigned to Departmental | 5 |
| custody, and despite good-faith efforts by members of the | 6 |
| General Assembly, these questions have not yet been answered by | 7 |
| the administration of current Governor Pat Quinn; and
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| WHEREAS, Investigative reports indicate that under one of | 9 |
| the Department's early release policies, the "Meritorious Good | 10 |
| Time (MGT) Push" early-release program, at least 1,745 | 11 |
| prisoners may have been released from Departmental custody | 12 |
| after serving terms as short as 11 days of Departmental | 13 |
| custody; and
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| WHEREAS, Department of Corrections prisoners who were | 15 |
| granted "Meritorious Good Time Push" early release include | 16 |
| prisoners who had previously been convicted of serious and | 17 |
| life-threatening criminal offenses, such as murder, attempted | 18 |
| murder, manslaughter, sex crimes, and weapons violations; and
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| WHEREAS, Investigative reports indicate that at least 129 | 20 |
| prisoners released from Departmental custody under the | 21 |
| "Meritorious Good Time Push" early-release program had been | 22 |
| tracked as of January, 2010, as having violated, subsequent to |
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| their release, the terms of their release, and as of January | 2 |
| 2010 had been returned to Departmental custody; and
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| WHEREAS, Investigative reports indicate that about | 4 |
| one-half of the 129 former prisoners granted "Meritorious Good | 5 |
| Time Push" early release committed violent criminal offenses, | 6 |
| including unlawful use of a weapon and domestic or aggravated | 7 |
| battery, subsequent to their release, which according to the | 8 |
| these reports was why this group of ex-prisoners were returned | 9 |
| to custody as of January 2010; and
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| WHEREAS, The Department of Corrections has not been able to | 11 |
| share, with the General Assembly or other investigators, any | 12 |
| additional information about further early-release prisoners | 13 |
| who may have been returned to custody after January 2010; and
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| WHEREAS, It is not clear how the "Meritorious Good Time | 15 |
| Push" policy was conceived, finalized, or implemented; the | 16 |
| General Assembly and other investigators have not been able to | 17 |
| obtain definitive answers to these questions; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, The process used to generate, implement, and | 19 |
| respond to the so-called "Meritorious Good Time Push" early | 20 |
| release policy raises significant concerns about the current | 21 |
| governance structure and responsiveness to the public welfare | 22 |
| of the Illinois Department of Corrections and the overall |
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| safety of the Illinois public; therefore, be it | 2 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 3 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 4 |
| there is created a nonpartisan Early Release Investigative | 5 |
| Committee, which shall have the duty of inquiring into, | 6 |
| investigating, and reporting to the Illinois House on the early | 7 |
| release programs implemented by the Department in 2009 and | 8 |
| 2010, including, but not limited to, the "Meritorious Good Time | 9 |
| Push" program; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Committee shall contain 10 members, of | 11 |
| whom 5, including one co-chairperson, will be appointed by the | 12 |
| Speaker of the House and 5, including one co-chairperson, will | 13 |
| be appointed by the House Minority Leader; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Committee is instructed to invite and | 15 |
| hear public testimony from executive-level leadership | 16 |
| personnel of the Department of Corrections on the | 17 |
| implementation and consequences of these Departmental early | 18 |
| release policies; and be it further | 19 |
| RESOLVED, That the Committee shall receive staff support as | 20 |
| necessary from the employees and contractors of the Illinois | 21 |
| House of Representatives; and be it
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| RESOLVED, That the Committee shall report to the Illinois | 2 |
| House no later than May 1, 2010 on its findings and the current | 3 |
| state of the investigation, as of the date of the report, into | 4 |
| the early release programs implemented by the Illinois | 5 |
| Department of Corrections in 2009 and 2010; and be it
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| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this Preamble and | 7 |
| Resolution be presented upon adoption to the Speaker of the | 8 |
| Illinois House and to the Illinois House Minority Leader.
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