Commentary
Problems of Prisoner Review Board go beyond voting records, attorney writes
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The author, an attorney active in prison reform, writes, “The only thing worse than the way parole works in Illinois is to have no parole.”
News
Records of Illinois parole board show just how rarely inmates win release
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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
Judge: Cook County judicial corruption did not affect 1977 murder trial
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A Cook County Circuit Court judge Wednesday denied to grant a new trial to a man who contends his conviction on charges he murdered a plainclothes Chicago police officer in 1976 was wrongly decided by a judge who sought to divert attention from his own corruption.
News
Rauner appointee, accused of ethics violations, removed from Illinois board
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Illinois Prisoner Review Board member John Clough was removed from the board amidst allegations he used a racial slur as a sheriff’s deputy and committed state ethics violations.
News
Rauner appointee to Illinois board accused of racial slurs, ethics violations
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Newly released public documents regarding board member John W. Clough appear to show that he submitted inaccurate financial disclosure forms to the state, conducted electioneering with a state-issued vehicle, and was overheard using a derogatory racial slur as a deputy.
News
Attorneys: Cook County judge’s corruption polluted his handling of murder case
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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
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Larry Kurina was once paroled for the double murder he committed in 1976, while a minor. But since his parole was violated in 2004 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
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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
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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
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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.