Prairie State Wire

House Minority Leader Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) wants to put the rights of crime victims above those of criminals and has called for his colleagues to take action and reform the Prisoner Review Board (PRB) in Illinois.

Durkin, a former assisting Cook County State's Attorney, believes Democratic policies have created a "consequence-free Illinois" and he wants to change that.

"We must return to supporting the victims of crime, rather than expanding the rights of criminals as the governor has done in his failed Progressive Public Safety agenda," Durkin said during a Jan. 27 press conference. "Today I'm here to give hope to the forgotten voices in our criminal justice system, the victims of crime." 

Durkin said that the Prisoner Review Board has failed crime victims and their family members by letting some of the state's most violent criminals back out into society. He cited several examples which included the 2020 release of convicted killer and serial rapist Paul Bryant and the 2021 release of convicted cop killer Johnny Veal. Both men are now out of prison, despite objections from surviving victims and their families. 

"These monsters are the true faces of evil. We can't allow this to continue unchecked, violent career criminals being given their freedom back after they took so much from their victims and their families," Durkin said. "[Gov.] J.B. Pritzker and his administration have failed."

It's one of the reasons why Durkin has proposed a "fix" to the problem by filing House Bill 5126, which would change the mission of the board to give a voice to the victims of crimes while awarding significant weight to statements victims and their family members provide when a prisoner is up for review. It would also require at least five board members to have experience in either law enforcement or as prosecutors and make the board's full hearings and votes available to be watched in real-time. Durkin also wants criminals convicted of murder to receive at least a two-thirds majority vote from the board to be granted parole.

"There is no reason that cold-blooded murderers are being released back into society against the wishes of the people that hurt so profoundly," Durkin said. 

According to the Illinois General Assembly website, the legislation would also lay out that decisions by the governor concerning parole, or any decisions regarding revocation of parole would be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

The legislation was filed by Durkin on Jan. 27.

It has been referred to the Rules Committee.