Current:Home > FinanceAlgosensey|Illinois Republicans propose overhaul for Gov. Pritzker’s ‘anti-victim’ parole board after stabbing -Wealth Evolution Experts
Algosensey|Illinois Republicans propose overhaul for Gov. Pritzker’s ‘anti-victim’ parole board after stabbing
SignalHub View
Date:2025-04-11 09:46:11
SPRINGFIELD,Algosensey Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Senate’s minority leader proposed legislation Tuesday to overhaul the Democrat’s Prisoner Review Board, after it released a convicted domestic abuser who then attacked a pregnant Chicago woman with a knife and fatally stabbed her 11-year-old son.
Republican Leader John Curran criticized Gov. J.B. Pritzker and said he will introduce legislation that includes requirements for appointees to have 20 years’ criminal justice experience as a prosecutor, defense attorney, probation officer or judge and that each member undergo annual training on domestic violence and sexual assault and the warning signs that precede repeat attacks. Other proposed measures would require advance notice to victims of the board’s decision to release perpetrators and more transparency on the board’s deliberations in each case, including how they voted.
“For too long, these $100,000-a-year positions at the Prisoner Review Board have been given to political appointees who don’t have the requisite experience to make these life-and-death decisions,” Curran, who’s from the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, told reporters in a teleconference. “We must take politics out of the appointment process to create a qualified board with a deep understanding of the criminal justice system.”
Pritzker has acknowledged the parole board didn’t sufficiently consider evidence in releasing 37-year-old Crosetti Brand on March 12. The next day, Brand allegedly broke into the apartment of Laterria Smith, 33, who had an order of protection against him, attacked her with a knife and killed her son Jayden Perkins when he intervened to protect his mother.
The dust-up prompted the resignation on March 25 of board member LeAnn Miller, who conducted Brand’s release hearing and wrote the report recommending he be freed. Later that day, board chairperson Donald Shelton also quit. Pritzker announced changes requiring the board to consult experts to develop training on domestic abuse and to improve the Department of Corrections’ process for sharing information with the board.
Curran and his colleagues, Sens. Jason Plummer of Edwardsville and Steve McClure of Springfield, parried questions about whether Senate Democrats, who hold a supermajority, would entertain their plans.
“We’ve been warning about the lack of qualifications of some of the governor’s appointees for years,” Plummer said. “I don’t know why it’s taken a dead child for people to finally recognize some of these people are not qualified to serve on the board. My Democratic colleagues have largely taken a step back and allowed the governor’s office to drive the train.”
Brand and Smith had a relationship 15 years ago, police said. Brand was paroled in October after serving eight years of a 16-year sentence for attacking another ex-partner. He was shipped back to prison in February after going to Smith’s apartment. But while seeking release in a Feb. 26 hearing before board member Miller, he denied trying to contact Smith in February and the Corrections Department failed to alert the board to Smith’s attempt at an emergency order of protection on Feb. 22.
Smith recommended release in her report in which two other board members concurred.
An emailed request for comment was left with Pritzker’s spokesperson. The governor on Monday said it’s difficult to make appointments because Republicans have “politicized” the process. Curran called such a suggestion “ridiculous.”
“I would hope that the Democrats in the Senate now realize that Gov. Pritzker has a policy of trying to get the most far-left, anti-victim people on the Prisoner Review Board,” McClure added. “My hope is that moving forward, the Democrats have learned their lesson.”
veryGood! (651)
Related
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Recent Megafire Smoke Columns Have Reached the Stratosphere, Threatening Earth’s Ozone Shield
- Teen Mom's Tyler Baltierra Details Pure Organic Love He Felt During Reunion With Daughter Carly
- A 3D-printed rocket launched successfully but failed to reach orbit
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- Americans snap up AC units, fans as summer temperatures soar higher than ever
- Raging Flood Waters Driven by Climate Change Threaten the Trans-Alaska Pipeline
- Judge to decide in April whether to delay prison for Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- Shoppers Praise This Tarte Sculpting Wand for “Taking 10 Years Off” Their Face and It’s 55% Off Right Now
Ranking
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- Stanford University president to resign following research controversy
- The International Criminal Court Turns 20 in Turbulent Times. Should ‘Ecocide’ Be Added to its List of Crimes?
- Shoppers Praise This Tarte Sculpting Wand for “Taking 10 Years Off” Their Face and It’s 55% Off Right Now
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- By 2050, 200 Million Climate Refugees May Have Fled Their Homes. But International Laws Offer Them Little Protection
- Get a Next-Level Clean and Save 58% On This Water Flosser With 4,200+ 5-Star Amazon Reviews
- Bethenny Frankel's Daughter Bryn, 13, Is All Grown Up in Rare TV Appearance
Recommendation
Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
Inside Clean Energy: Some Straight Talk about Renewables and Reliability
Las Vegas Delta flight cancelled after reports of passengers suffering heat-related illness
Teetering banks put Biden between a bailout and a hard place ahead of the 2024 race
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
Planet Money Records Vol. 3: Making a hit
It's not just Adderall: The number of drugs in short supply rose by 30% last year
Yes, You Can Stay at Barbie's Malibu DreamHouse Because Life in Plastic Is Fantastic