Week of September 10 Candidates Shirk Prison Issues In Governor Race

[Dazzler]

Candidates Shirk Prison Issues in Governor Race

Blago...Lesser of Two Evils?



Illinois’ gubernatorial election is drawing near.  Although Illinois Prison Talk will not be making an official endorsement for any particular candidate I do urge our members and guests to consider the consequences for Illinois inmates. 

Judy  Barr Topinka is a product of the same administration as former Governor George Ryan but she does not share the same viewpoint on the Death Penalty and the current Moratorium.  She is a staunch supporter of the Death Penalty as is her running mate,  DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph Birkett.  They are both on record as vowing to lift Ryan’s moratorium and restore executions in Illinois.   Although  death penalty convictions have greatly diminished in our State there are currently six new offenders on Death Row, sentenced since the moratorium went into effect in 2000.  Ryan later emptied Death Row before leaving office in January, 2003.

Current Governor Rod Blagojevich also supports the Death Penalty yet he has not acted to abolish the Moratorium.  Hopefully, if re-elected, he will continue with this policy.  Topinka, never vocal about prison issues before, has now jumped on Birkett’s ‘tough on crime’ bandwagon.  In a recent statement he said their team already has a plan drawn up to re-vamp the Department of Corrections, including the hiring of 400 new correctional officers.  Shouldn't we be informed of their proposed plan BEFORE the election? 

IPT has contacted the campaign office of both Topinka and Birkett with specific questions regarding many important prisoner issues and we’ve never received a response.  A former Illinois warden told me that one in four residents of Illinois are directly affected by a jail or prison sentence, either personally or with a family member.  This number seems staggering, yet true.   With this amount of potential voters whose lives will be forever changed by an incarceration I’d think they would offer a response to our questions.  Perhaps that explains their lack of response.  I might add that convicted felons are allowed to vote in Illinois. 

AFSCME, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Department of Correction’s labor union, has jumped ship and endorsed JBT this election, deserting Blago due to his massive staff cuts, hiring freezes and deep budget cuts to the DOC after taking office in 2003.  Sparing a lengthy explanation, it's endorsement of Topinka equates to more staff hiring and union dues paid to AFSCME.  The state union has long complained of short-staffing and over-working it’s prison guard members.  Apparently union representatives don’t visit their member’s workplaces frequently to witness the abundance of employees idling their shifts away…and the lack of supervision.   AFSCME’s endorsement of Topinka-Birkett should not bear much weight to an informed voter. 

Although Governor Blagojevich has shown little concern for our inmates' welfare either, he is definitely the better of the two mediocre choices for Governor.  He has left the Death Penalty Moratorium intact and is expected to continue this policy.  His deep budget cuts and layoffs in 2004 have caused Illinois inmates to suffer from lack of proper medical treatment, good nutrition, educational and occupational program funding and increased loss of family contact.   As the overseer of all state departments he seems out of touch with the operations of the corrections department. 

There has been much speculation and scrutinizing of the governor's appointments, state contracts and hiring practices relating to campaign contributions...business as usual in this state.  Topinka doesn't want to acknowledge her position in the Ryan Administration during it's years of corruption, distancing herself from the Ryan corruption stigma during the campaign.  The policies and past records of either of these two candidates don't exemplify a good faith choice for the people of our State.

Had Judy Topinka not chosen Birkett for her running-mate there may have been a possibility for her to cooperate concerning Prison Issues.  Joe Birkett has an ugly record as a prosecutor in Illinois.  He failed at his bid for Attorney General in 2002 and many hoped he would just go away.  But now, faced with the possibility of inheriting the Governorship someday,  he must not be elected as Lt. Governor.  His county, DuPage, is responsible for placing more wrongfully convicted defendants on Death Row than any other county in Illinois, including the mega-county of Cook.  And these wrongful convictions have long been rumored to have been covered-up and  ignored.  Do we want him for a State official?  The voters were astute enough to reject him for Attorney General in the last statewide election and hopefully they will continue to reject him.

The upcoming HJR80 Study of Long-Term Inmates is a proposal close to our hearts at IPT.  I fear that a change in the head of our state at this point will whisk this committee’s eventual recommendations into a trash can. 

Considering the statistics of Illinois families affected by incarceration our voices can be a powerful political force.  The election is fast-approaching and the prison issues involved in this election must be highlighted to our families, friends, and personal contacts.  Please consider the records and statements of the candidates before casting your ballot.  Personally I will stick with what I know - Blago - rather than risk the unknown policies of this “tougher-on-crime” duo of Topinka-Birkett.

We've had enough tough-on-crime policy in Illinois...it's clogged our judicial system, flooded our prisons, burst our state's budget and has accomplished nothing to deter crime...only enhanced job security for those working in the judicial/corrections industry.

The battlecry of "tough on crime" is a pathetic political public scare tactic equalled only by the miserable failure of the "War on Drugs".
 



*For a complete index of previous IPT editorials click here: http://xsorbit30.com/users5/illinoisprisontalk/index.php?board=92.0

[Sister]

Thanks for clearing any questions up, Dazzler........I know who I will be voting for....... -)-