IllinoisVictims.Org Information Page
An organization dedicated to defend the rights of violent crime victims
in the State of Illinois.
For more information, visit www.illinoisvictims.org

 Illinoisvictims.org names Board of Directors

Illinoisvictims.org has formed a Board of Directors for 2009.

The following is the current list of board members:
 

February 9, 2009

To Governor Quinn and Members of the Senate Executive Appointments Committee;

It is with profound regret that we could not appear as a group to testify before your committee on such short notice regarding this very serious piece of legislation, and we are deeply grateful to Matt Jones and the States Attorneys for reading this into the record on our behalf.

Victims of these crimes should not have to seek out representatives to speak on their behalf at these proceedings – the sponsor of this legislation should have sought us out himself.

We are key stakeholders to this public policy discussion, and there is little doubt but that this room would be filled if those who were affected by it knew about it.

We wish to therefore state publicly our absolute objection to this hearing being held without victims being notified.

Under the Illinois Constitution, the victims’ families of these crimes have a right to be notified of, and heard in, any matter pertaining to the outcome of their cases - and in a timely manner BEFORE its completion.

The provision in HB 45 to notify victims’ families only AFTER this legislation would become law is an absolute abomination and the sponsors and supporters of this bill should be ashamed of themselves for their inappropriate treatment of we who are most vulnerable and most affected by such legislation.

Public hearings on any bill that would undo what the entire criminal justice system accomplished in our cases should fully include all affected victims’ families who choose to participate.

Those who have not experienced it personally can’t understand what it feels like to have members of your own beloved family murdered. It is bigger, deeper, darker, and harder, than anything else in the world. It is permanent. It is irreplaceable. It is atomic-sized in devastation. It never goes away.

And the only sense of finality is knowing that the offender who chose to commit this unspeakable act of evil is behind bars for a long time to come.

Any offender who truly feels remorse would want to do what is best for his victims’ families.

Illinois’ determinate sentencing system has been a success for decades for many reasons.

One reason is that it allows most offenders the ability to earn half off their sentences by their OWN good behavior – not some politically appointed board capable of biases of race, class and other concerns.

The decision of the state in 1993 to eliminate that possibility of early release for murder cases is based on the almost universally held belief that anyone who takes a life deliberately commits the worst crime possible and has lost the right to walk among us.

Let us not forget the crimes we are talking about in most other states would warrant the death penalty.

Let me draw an important distinction between those who CHOSE to do something that ends them up in prison serving a long sentence and those who had NO CHOICE, who lost everything.

 Life is all we have. He who takes that, takes everything. There is nothing else.

That the offender who is left alive has whole advocacy communities working out of concern for them - while the victims remain uninvited to this conversation is incomprehensible to us.

Those who are living out their years in prison at least have their lives, which is more than what their victims have.

They have visits from their families and letters from home. They can eat, sleep, read, feel pleasure, friendship, and they can grow, write, learn, and even become better people.

But what they do not get is to get out of prison before they complete their sentence.

That is their punishment for the ultimate crime. That is what the public is promised by the criminal justice system. That is what the whole governmental system works to accomplish, often at tremendous cost to taxpayers.

And that is what the offenders can do for the victims – serve their time with dignity - without complaint – working to better themselves and to make restitution to their victims.

Yes, prisons should be better managed to be places where offenders can make restitution to their victims and to society as a whole – that would ultimately benefit them the most.

But HB 45 asks the victims of these crimes and their families to bear the overwhelming burden of the inmate’s simple desire to no longer be in jail.

Make no mistake about it. This legislation will seriously re-traumatize victims’ families. It betrays the work of law enforcement, often at cost of their own lives. And it will anger and endanger the public as a whole.

Life doesn’t mean life?!

 40 years doesn’t mean 40 years?!

What does it mean then?

If the supporters of this bill do not think those should be the penalties for murder, then they should work to try to change the original penalties associated with these crimes - - if they can.

We are sad about HB 45 and this misguided effort to end determinate sentencing which has been a more just system for both community and offender.

There are SO MANY meaningful prison reforms that we could support, and in fact urge this committee to take up, such as the Impact of Crime on Victims Class contained in this measure.  

We ask you to vote against this ill-conceived bill and devote your energies to reforms that are not exacted at the cost of further injuring murder victims’ family members.

Terry Mayborne
 President

Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins
Secretary

HB45
(Elderly Sentencing Adjustment Bill)

The bill was RESOUNDINGLY defeated on Friday, April 3, 2009 with a vote of 32 yay, 83 nay, 2 "present'.

This bill would have end determinate sentencing in Illinois and give all prisoners, most of them murderers, a chance at early release at age 50 for being "elderly" if they have served 25 years - even if they killed multiple people in cold blood and were sentenced to life without parole. Victims of these crimes have NO idea that retroactive un-doing of the life or long terms sentences in their cases were being proposed to be undone by some members of the Illinois House.

Our position all along has been that victim's families are key stakeholders in this process and if there is to be a retroactive change of this magnitude, profoundly affecting their lives, and their mental and physical safety, they have a right to be notified (as the Illinois Constitution guarantees - notification of matters pertaining to their cases) and to participate in this public policy discussion.

Supporters of the long term prisoners and legislators who sponsored HB 45, a strong agenda item for the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, were asked repeatedly to engage in victim outreach and discussion, and refused.

Contact information is found by clicking on the names of each representative at this page: http://ilga.gov/house

Illinois House Representatives who voted YES or Present:

Luis ArroyoWill Burns
Annazette Collins
Marlow Colvin
Shane Cultra
Barbara Flynn Currie
Monique Davis
William Davis
Sara Feigenholtz (present)
Mary Flowers
LaShawn Ford
Esther Golar
Deborah Graham
Greg Harris
Connie Howard
Eddie Lee Jackson
Naomi Jakobssen
Lou Lang (present)
Joseph Lyons
Karen May
Jack McGuire
Deborah Mel
David Miller
Elaine Nekritz
Al Riley
Bob Rita
Kathleen Ryg
Cynthia Soto
Andre Thapeti
Art Turner (sponsor)
Eddie Washington (who maligned victims families in his speech for the bill)
Karen Yarbrough
Michael Zaleswski
House Speaker Michael Madigan


Remember to be polite and respectful, but the issue is that this bill is NOT the solution for needed prison reform. This bill places the GREATEST burden on murder victims families who would be required to re-open their cases 25 years after the offender began serving the sentence, often life without parole, or long term sentences.

It would give the Illinois Prisoner Review Board the power to change retroactively a sentence handed down by the Judicial system that was fixed and extremely serious.

For those offenders who are innocent or over sentenced given the facts of their cases, we support strengthening and reforming the appeals system and the clemency process. The rest of these offenders - the majority - are guilty of horrific crimes ( the details are so awful in most of these cases that it can hardly be put in words) and should serve their sentences without complaint and let the victim's families have the legal finality the system promised them.

Friends,
 
Illinois Victims witnessed a victory today with the defeat of HB45 CD Elderely Sentence Adj. - 32/83 vote in the House.
 
This has been a steep climb for all concerned to make sure we were communicating with all our House Representatives about how we felt about this bill.  It was pulled twice because they knew they couldn't get the vote and we were told just yesterday by Rep. Turner's office that it looked as though Rep. Art Turner would pull it again.  This morning about 11:15am we were alerted that is was being debated and voted on as we spoke.  I personally talked with Rep. Sacia, and Rep. Winter's, who immediately returned my calls and tried to reassure me that they felt it would not pass, but may be close.
I also am aware that Rep. Jefferson firmly informed the supporters of this bill that he could not ever support this.
 
It is upsetting to us that Rep. Turner's office could not be honest with us.  We consider him to be fair and would hope he would open his door to discussion, but calls go unreturned.
 
We are certain we have not heard the last of this, but till next session, HB45 is a dead bill and long term sentencing cannot be petitioned to be reduced.  www.il.gov to read the full bill.
 
We would like to take this opportunity to THANK all of you who responded to our urgent calls opposing this important legislation.  We have many loved ones, friends, neighbors and communities who can sleep better tonight because of all your efforts supporting IllinoisVictims.org in this battle.  
 
We will continue to watch legislation that is important to the safety of our communities and especially to our victims.
 
Please forward this to all of your contacts that you invited to join our battle and especially to your Representatives, letting them know they are appreciated for standing up for victims.  If for some strange reason your/their Rep. supported this bill, let them know how disappointed you are with their vote, and share this with their district.
 
In closing, a Victorious Thank You from Illinois Victims, along with family and friends of victims throughtout the State of Illinois.
 
From the Board of Directors, Directors and Supporters of IllinoisVictims.org
 
Terry Mayborne, President, IllinoisVictims.Org