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    The Long Wait

    A series about the parole process for a small group of Illinois inmates incarcerated on crimes from the 1970s

    News

    Appellate court denies new trial for Chicago man convicted months after judge accepted a bribe in mob case

    By Emily Hoerner | April 8, 2020

    The appellate court panel ruled there was no connection between the judge’s acquittal of a mob hitman and Ronnie Carrasquillo’s murder trial. The court did grant Carrasquillo a chance to develop other claims that his 200 to 600-year sentence is unconstitutional.

    News

    Appeals court hears claim judge harshly treated murder defendant to hide his own corruption

    By Emily Hoerner | November 21, 2019

    Attorneys for a Chicago man convicted of a 1976 police killing argued before a packed Illinois appellate courtroom Thursday that the prisoner was found guilty and given a sentence of several hundred years by a judge trying to conceal his own corruption.

    News

    Records of Illinois parole board show just how rarely inmates win release

    By Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang | July 27, 2018

    Getting voting records of the members of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board dating back to 2013 was no easy task. Those records reveal a system in which aging prisoners locked up at least 40 years have almost no chance of winning support for their release from the board members, a majority of whom have denied about four of every five cases.

    News

    Attorneys: Cook County judge’s corruption polluted his handling of murder case

    By Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang | November 29, 2017

    In 1977, a judge convicted an 18-year old of murder and sentenced him to 200-to-600 years in prison. Forty years later, the prisoners’ attorneys contend the trial and sentencing were an improper effort by a corrupt judge to dilute public criticism.

    The Long Wait

    For sixth time, Illinois board rejects parole for man convicted of 1976 murders

    By Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang | November 16, 2017

    Larry Kurina was once paroled for the double murder he committed in 1976, while a minor. But since his parole was violated in 1976 following an arrest for possessing stolen tools, the Illinois Prison Review Board has denied Kurina a second chance. Thursday the outcome was no different.

    News

    New bill would offer chance at parole for youthful offenders

    By Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang | October 5, 2017

    The Illinois House of Representatives is considering a bill that would give young offenders the opportunity for parole. Despite earlier hopes of advocates, the bill would give the decision to the Prisoner Review Board, an agency whose decisions, an Injustice Watch review found, are often inconsistent and arbitrary.

    The Long Wait

    Aging prisoners left to arbitrary process to win release

    By Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang | October 2, 2017

    A state board uses an arbitrary and opaque process to decide whether prisoners convicted of committing violent crimes decades ago should be released, an Injustice Watch review has found. The process is wracked by subjectivity, and that problem is not confined to Illinois.

    The Long Wait

    No more chances: An inmate’s plea for another shot

    By Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang | October 2, 2017

    In 1993, Larry Kurina was paroled by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board after serving roughly 17 years for murder. After pleading guilty to a low-level felony in 2005, he has been back in custody since.

    The Long Wait

    With little hope left of parole, inmates look to the courts for release

    By Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang | October 2, 2017

    After all but giving up hope of release by the agency tasked with considering their parole, two inmates are searching for other ways out of prison.

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    Injustice Watch is a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism organization that conducts in-depth research exposing institutional failures that obstruct justice and equality.

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