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[date]
[Representative's Name] Dear Representative {name], I am writing to express my concern about House Joint Resolution 21 which will be considered by the Judiciary II - Criminal Law Committee shortly. This resolution will reauthorize the Long-Term Prisoner Study Committee from last year and extend its deadline for submitting its findings and final report. I am specifically concerned that HJR 80 passed the legislature last year with many legislators not knowing that there was an "under the radar" strategy at work to have the committee study the feasibility of reintroducing parole to Illinois in order to effect the release of long-term inmates, ostensibly as a cost saving measure. In response to pressure from victims, victim rights organizations, and victim advocates across the state and the nation armed with petitions containing the names of thousands of people who do not want a return to parole in Illinois, Representative Art Turner, chair of the committee, sent a letter to the victims assuring them that "any question of such early or retroactive release programs has been taken entirely off the table." A copy of the letter may be found on the IllinoisVictims.org website at www.illinoisvictims.org. I want to express, first, my appreciation to Representative Turner for making this commitment to the victims of crime in Illinois and, second, my concern that any work by the committee under its reauthorization will be consistent with this agreement. As we have noted on several occasions, just studying an issue such as this brings great pain and traumatization to victims' families and wreaks havoc on their lives and emotions. The resolution as drafted seems to imply that there is a benefit to releasing long-term inmates of which there are over 4000 who might be affected by the results of this study. It also states that the recidivism rate of older released inmates is "the lowest of any group of prisoners," which is a bit misleading as the Bureau of Justice Statistics report on recidivism - Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994 places that number at 45%, a far cry from the 80% of younger age groups, but still an alarming figure, at best. I would request that the bill be amended to remove the misleading reference to recidivism lest a justification for retroactivity creep back into the committee's work, and that the bill be amended to include a statement that the committee leadership has previously agreed that retroactive sentence reduction and parole will not be discussed or considered. I hope that you will vote to amend the language of HJR21 when it comes up for a vote and that you will always consider the victims of these offenders in your deliberations. Thank you for your time and attention. Sincerely, [signed] [Your name, address, and phone number] |