State Senator Raoul’s Early Release Program becomes law

Plan will relieve prison overcrowding, bolster public safety

 

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Illinois State Senator Kwame Raoul (D-13^th) issued the following statement on Governor Quinn’s signing of Senate Bill 2621, which creates a new system of “sentence credits,” with more comprehensive safeguards than previous early release plans, to reward inmates for good conduct, including the successful completion of educational and rehabilitation programs:

 Overcrowding in Illinois’ prisons is reaching a crisis point. Appropriate prison population management is not only critical to safety inside prisons; it is critical to public safety at large. We need to begin to use risk assessment tools and well-calculated criminal justice policy to make certain we utilize our corrections resources wisely. This overhaul of the sentence credit system, which met with broad and bipartisan support in the legislature, allows the Department of Corrections to take into account factors such as past offenses and an assessment of the likelihood of successful rehabilitation to make smart and safe choices about the early release of inmates.