Bill Brady, the gift that will keep on giving:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBDDoU0P03k[/youtube]
Poor Cross and Radogno. Notice Cross’ face stays emotionless, while Radogno looks up in surprise. I imagine by the end of this cucle she’ll learn. Cross seems to have been checking out his Blackberry the entire time.
about 3:15 in…
Press: There’s a list on line.
Brady: There is? We have asked the Governor’s office for a list of the backgrounds.
If you look at the Corrections Department list from the MGT Push program, there is no Jonathan Phillips listed
The AP article–incredibly well done so kudos to them, points out how off base Brady is:
Brady questioned whether Phillips was eligible for meritorious good time because of his crime.
State law indicates the credit does not apply when a judge finds that the victim of vehicular hijacking suffered great bodily harm. Such felons must serve 85 percent of their sentences, which Brady suggested should have applied to Phillips.
But the Cook County state’s attorney’s office told the AP in January there was no finding of great bodily harm in Phillips’ case.
The law is worded in a way that could be read to deny meritorious good time for everyone convicted of vehicular hijacking. But criminal defense lawyers contacted earlier by the AP generally said the law appears to have been properly applied in Phillips’ case.
Brady said that even if Phillips was eligible for time off for good behavior, he should not have received it.
“The mistake was that they released someone who shouldn’t be released who (later) committed murder,” Brady said. “We’re not suggesting that the governor broke the law. We’re saying he made a misjudgment. He put violent offenders on the streets.”
Brady also proposed legislation requiring Corrections to maintain a public list of all prisoners released before serving 100 percent of their sentences. That would cover nearly every inmate.
The department already provides a service that lets taxpayers register to be notified about the status of specific inmates.
Phillips, 21, and his cousin, Antonio Phillips, 20, were indicted last month on charges they robbed and murdered Suggs, who was found dead inside his car Dec. 10 near Lincoln and Mossman avenues.
At this point then, Brady has a dispute primarily with the law allowing such releases, but this has nothing to do with the programs that are controversial. If Brady disagrees with the practice then Brady should introduce a bill strengthening the Truth in Sentencing law. While he’s at it, he can tell us where the magical money tree is going to come from to keep more prisoners incarcerated. I’m sure he can look to California for ways to do that.
At this point, it appears the entire Brady campaign is about finding a magical unicorn to make his policies realistic.
While I don’t really have a problem with the bill he’s introducing to give people more information about prisoner’s being released, the list is pretty easy to use–simply use the search in Acrobat and you can find only one Phillips–not Jonathan. I’d be happy to show him how it works….
Update: fixed the title
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