Republican Senate Leader: “The Governor needs to lead” when it comes to Prisoner Review Board

State Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) said the problems can be summed up easily. (Photo courtesy: Flickr/File)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – If anybody did not smell a rat at the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, Illinois Senate Republicans say, last month’s death of an eleven-year-old boy – allegedly at the hands of a man the PRB released a day before – should leave no doubt.

“Here we have the Prisoner Review Board and (the Illinois Department of Corrections), both complicit in the death of a child, and the governor talks about the process being political,” said Senate Minority Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove). “Please! It’s nonsense. The governor needs to lead.”

The lawmakers rolled out a package of bills which includes more stringent notification of people involved with a crime before that inmate is released. Curran says PRB members should each have twenty years of experience in criminal justice.

Crosetti Brand allegedly stabbed Jayden Perkins, 11, to death and seriously wounded Perkins’ mother, Laterria Smith, Brand’s ex-girlfriend.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…