Quinn Needs Better Plan for Crowded Prisons (Editorial)

[me]

The (Bloomington) Pantagraph.
Nov. 15, 2011
 
Quinn needs better plan for crowded prisons

State government needs to look for more savings and efficiencies — and the Department of Corrections should be part of that — but not with a haphazard, ill-planned closing of a facility such as Logan Correctional Center.

The rejection of Gov. Pat Quinn's proposal to close Logan — in a 9-2 vote by the General Assembly's Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability -- was welcome and somewhat expected.

Even before the panel issued its non-binding recommendation against closing the prison and two other facilities -- the Jacksonville Developmental Center and the Tinley Park Mental Health Center — the Quinn administration already was working on another plan.

The next proposal needs to show better evidence of planning and common sense than most of what Quinn has presented thus far.

Closing Logan when the state's prisons are bulging at the seams makes little sense -- and lawmakers on the panel called him on that.

There were 49,066 inmates in the Department of Corrections as of the quarterly report issues Oct. 1. The rated/design capacity of all the state's prison facilities is 33,703, meaning the prison system is operating at nearly 150 percent of rated/design capacity. Even under the department's newer measure of "operational capacity/bedspace" — which includes bunks stuck in basements and gymnasiums -- the system will be at its bedspace capacity of 51,229 by April, according to department projections.

Would savings from closing a prison be outweighed by possible lawsuits over prison conditions and possible violence because of overcrowding?

State Rep. Michael Tryon, R-Crystal Lake, rightfully noted that adding beds to gymnasiums in overcrowded prisons — as planned by Quinn — would be a prescription for more violence. Prison watchdog groups already have been sounding alarms about current conditions in crowded prisons.

Too ease crowding, the Quinn administration needs to attack the situation from more than one direction. There needs to be a well-thought-out plan for early release of prisoners convicted of non-violent offenses who are not a threat to the public and who have served a reasonable amount of their sentences.

Longer term, there needs to be greater attention to decreasing the number of people sent to prison. This would include improved rehabilitation and resources to decrease recidivism as well as diversionary programs similar to the drug court and mental health court that have been so successful in McLean County.

Closing prisons and sending inmates to other, already crowded prisons will only decrease safety of staff as well as inmates.

Further overcrowding also will decrease availability of effective educational, counseling, drug treatment and other rehabilitative services, thereby increasing the likelihood of repeat offenses and decreasing public safety when inmates are released.




http://www.necn.com/11/16/11/Excerpts-from-recent-Illinois-editorials/landing_nation.html?&apID=6a37b23590c14ae4bc784e6cffe811fc

[mikenlisa]

Personally, I think they should consider looking into why it is we are so overcrowded..I mean there are so many appeals that are won and if that is the case then why are these people actually being sent to prison in the first place only to further clog the system..For example I know many people, me included, that have been told by their attorneys that they will win their case in appeals...that should tell you the circuit judges are not doing their jobs properly..why not revamp the whole system starting with that level...jus saying

[veracity]

Of course your lawyer is going to tell you the appeal will be won. He just lost your case and he isn't even the attorney that will handle the appeal. Very few appeals are actually won. Go the the Illinois Appellate court website and read all the court rulings and rule 23 appeals and it will make you sick to see what is and isn't upheld.
 

 The system does need to change by taking politics out of it. If anyone checked data I'm sure there are more arrests, more convictions, and more prison sentences in an election year cause they all want to keep their jobs and no one wins an election being soft on crime. Crime has not increased despite tough economic times but laws making prison sentences madatory or lowering standards for what is and isn't a crime have filled our prisons. There is so much more society can do to keep people out of prison but like I said those ideas aren't politically popular.

[lbattle40]

 

[littlemamma52]

I feel that non violent offenders are not the threat to our society that some are saying they are.
Reinstate the 6 months good time for nonviolent offenders depending on the amount of time they have done,
and their behavior while they are incarcerated. If they don't do whats expected or the requirements giving to
them for an early release then they do the rest of their time. Nonviolent offenders are not the threat to our society that some are making them out to be.If our society would give nonviolent offenders a chance to get a job  and would give them a job we would have less re -offenders. Once a person does their time and reenters the free world they are forced to go back to the only way they know of survival and most of the time that is an illegal way to make money so they are able to survive, cause they aren't given the chance for any type of employment due to the fact they are felons and have served time or have a record.Some people do learn and are willing to change after being incarcerated, but are never given the opportunity to prove themselves.Gov Quinn and his people are the ones who messed up the early release program so now our loved ones that are in Illinois prisons are paying the price. Just one more time the government screws something up and the people end up paying for their mistakes , tell me how that is right. Admit that you screwed up ,accept responseability for your actions and then fix it. we are all human and make mistakes , but what kind of message is our government sending to it's people by making them pay when uor gov.screws up????

[Forevermah]

Gov Quinn and his people are the ones who messed up the early release program so now our loved ones that are in Illinois prisons are paying the price.Just one more time the government screws something up and the people end up paying for their mistakes , tell me how that is right.

The inmates who were released under the new PUSH program, that went back out and committed murder and other crimes are the ones that messed it up for everyone else.  One of those inmates, was just sentenced to LIFE in prison, because after he was released under the new program, which was then canceled,  went and killed his girlfriend and her daughter.    Unfortunately, people fell threw the cracks that should not have! 

The program was canceled and now something needs to be done, but will Quinn stand up and do something, that is the question!



 

[lbattle40]