Since taking office, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been gradually and quietly transforming the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, which is responsible for deciding whether to release some of the state’s most violent criminals from prison early, to fit his “weak on crime” agenda. That is, until now. Senate Democrats who covered for him for over a year finally had enough of his dangerous gamesmanship.
Until last month, the governor had been appointing some controversial members to the board, hiding them from public scrutiny and preventing them from participating in the constitutionally required Senate confirmation process. Some of those appointees had served for years without ever being confirmed, all while taking a taxpayer-funded $90,000 salary and, in some instances, casting votes to release convicted murderers.
The Illinois Constitution requires that appointees be vetted and confirmed by the Illinois Senate within 60 session days of their appointments. Pritzker, however, has repeatedly circumvented that process, using such tactics as withdrawing appointments before the 60-day deadline and then almost immediately reappointing them to start the clock over.
