Illegal Holding of Prisoners Beyond Release Date

Mandatory Supervised Release

In the year 1977, then Governor Thompson signed into effect the “Truth In Sentencing Bill,” a public act law that changed the sentencing structure in the Illinois criminal court system. No longer would the Illinois Parole Board be a part of the sentencing structure. From the date of January 1st, 1977, the men and women sent to Department of Corrections would serve a definitive sentence.

No longer was the convicted murderer be issued a term of five to twenty years, with the prisoner being able to see the parole board after the five–year term was served. Instead the convicted got a term of thirty years  with a “day-for’day” good time credit—meaning that if that prisoner kept his nose clean and stayed out of trouble, he or she could be released after serving half the sentence. A thirty–year sentence required a term of fifteen years.

The legislation also stipulates “mandatory supervised release (MSR).” For class X felonies like first degree murder, the mandatory supervised release was three years.  For class one and class two felonies, it was two years, and for class three and class four felonies, it was one year.

This attached condition of the sentence required the convicted citizen to be on a term of supervision with the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. If the prisoner on release violated the terms of his mandatory supervised release, he could be sent back into the prison system to serve the remainder of that term. The Prisoner Review Board could also impose a term of up to one year of the prisoner’s good time credits earned on the sentence.

So if the prisoner has a three–year MSR violated after serving eighteen months, the Prisoner Review Board could return that person to the following terms of imprisonment: eighteen months set for violating MSR and twelve months for revoking good time credits on sentence served. In other words, the person goes back to prison for thirty months.

The Illinois Department of Corrections Field Service Department is responsible for finding a half-way house for the prisoner who is released upon completion of the term of imprisonment; or the prisoner can get the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) Parole Agent assigned to his case to approve a “home site,” a place where the prisoner is released to family or friends at a home owned or rented by that friend or family member.

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — under the Due Process of the Law Clause — requires that the prisoner be released from the IDOC after serving the prison term imposed by the Judge. Not the warden nor any IDOC employee holds the judicial authority to keep someone who has reached MSR in prison any longer.

Unfortunately, this illegal act is taking place in the State of Illinois Department of Corrections. The men are not released after serving the prison term imposed by the sentencing judge. There are not enough half-way houses, they say, or the home sites are denied by the parole agent. The reasons are very controversial here, but the result is that the men are not being released. The warden at their prison facility is denying their 14th Amendment due-process-of-law release date.

3 Reasons Why Prisoners Are Denied Released

Now there is several reasons behind this so let me explain.

ONE

Most convicts serving time in the IDOC are the disenfranchised citizen. They have no education, no family and no place to be released to. They are required bed space at an IDOC half-way house to serve their MSR term. But the state does not have the beds to match the number of people being released. So the state wardens and the IDOC Directors have decided to violate the law and impose a further term of imprisonment to discharge the required MSR term imposed by the “Truth In Sentencing” statute.

TWO

The Illinois Department of Corrections Prisoner Review Board sets the terms of release in each case. They are now requiring at least sixty days “home confinement” with an electronic monitor being placed around the convict’s ankle. This requires a system to be in place that is attached to a land line phone service. Most half-way houses will not supply this requirement. So the men are denied release because they cannot afford to put this system into place in the real world. Sadly, it is the black population that this affects the most, poverty being a strong factor here.

THREE

The Sexual Conviction. This is a controversial topic but it must be addressed, for these men hold the same 14th Amendment due-process-of-law rights. Now I have no love for these offenders, but the law is the law. Lady Justice wears blinders. Mandatory Supervised Release is just that–release! Everyone must be treated equally here!

These men being released are required to wear a GPS System ankle bracelet so the Authorities can track them at all times. But there is no system for this set up at the IDOC Field Services Department.

Returned To Their cells

So these men are denied release and returned to their cells with an illegal prison term. Most have a three-year term of MSR. They are seen by the Prisoner Review Board where their thirty-six-month term of MSR is imposed at 85 percent. This do to it being a violent crime with bodily harm imposed upon the victim. This works out to two years, eight months and six days.

The law is written requiring MSR, these three words stated clearly. To hold these men passed their release date — because the I.D.O.C. Field Services Department is not doing their required job — creates a system where the prisoner can sue for the illegal prison term imposed. Therefore, the tax payer will be required to dig in their pockets to pay this also.

The numbers of being held beyond their MSR inflate the prisoner account numbers illegally, again costing the taxpayer.

Then we have the hostility being infected into the prisoner’s soul. He or she has served the sentence imposed and in many cases needs to return to their family unit, to support their kids and try to put their family unit back together—only to be held illegally and unable to meet the family requirements of the missing father.

If you think this does not create a hostile prisoner to be released upon the public one needs to ponder this. Take a walk in this person’s shoes. For once the MRS term is served, the IDOC no longer has any hold over that citizen. They are released to go anywhere they desire, to do whatever they desire. So the system put in place to re-introduce that prisoner back into society under supervision has been replaced with an illegal term of confinement.

A broke, and very angry prisoner is released with ten dollars pocket money, told to survive and be a productive citizen. Am I the only want to see the irony here?