Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) is the latest Republican to throw rocks at Gov. JB Pritzker over the appointees to – and the decisions of – the Prisoner Review Board. The board’s membership fell below a quorum when so many of Pritzker’s appointees, serving pending Senate confirmation, failed to get that confirmation.
Durkin, hopeful of a Republican-led legislature and governor next year, recounted some of the points in his legislation at a Capitol news conference Wednesday.
“Require five members of the board to have experience as a law enforcement officer or prosecutor. Require a higher – two-thirds – vote threshold for parole of people convicted of first-degree murder.”
Durkin said the board and Pritzker prioritize the welfare of convicted killers over victims and survivors who may not want those people free – and who may event want to inform the board of their feelings.
This is all part of a pro-criminal, anti-police, anti-victim albatross Republicans are trying to hang on Pritzker this election year.