As lawyers acting pro bono, we have represented C-number inmates seeking parole in Illinois — those who are eligible for parole because they were convicted of crimes that occurred before 1978. In addition to representing these inmates, we have attended many parole hearings before the state’s Prisoner Review Board and watched hearings for other C-number inmates seeking parole. In all our experiences, we have seen the careful attention that Prisoner Review Board members bring to the hearings.
Contrary to the misleading statements some politicians have made recently, the Prisoner Review Board has acted responsibly and thoughtfully in making decisions about parole, even those decisions we have disagreed with. Members get extensive training, and they review voluminous records in deciding whether to grant parole to a prisoner.
All C-number inmates who have come up for parole since 2018 have spent more than 40 years in prison. To be granted parole, these individuals must show that they are living completely different lives from the ones that brought them to prison. They must also demonstrate that they are remorseful and nonviolent and that they can return to society and live law-abiding lives. Many of the C-number inmates granted parole have reconnected with their families, and many of them, despite their ages, are employed. We have been surprised at how glad they are to have any job at all.
The conclusion to grant parole must be reached by a majority of Prisoner Review Board members. When there is a full complement of 15 members, a candidate must receive eight votes; that’s true even if only 10 or 12 members are present. Moreover, even the most liberal members are “stingy” with their “yes” votes. The board will only parole people who have concrete plans for their future, and the board’s ability to ensure public safety is evidenced by the fact that the recidivism rate of former C-number inmates is nearly zero. This low recidivism rate indicates that the board has exercised sound judgment, and in doing so it has allowed C-number inmates, who have served decades in prison, to have a second chance.
Legislators should have the courage to applaud that instead of showing disdain for it, as did state Sen. Jason Plummer in his recent op-ed “Illinois Prisoner Review Board is a mess of Pritzker’s making.”
We know of only one C-number inmate — Ray Larsen, the only one Plummer pointed out in his op-ed — whose parole has been revoked in the past 12 years, and that was because he went to visit a female friend in Ohio without reporting to his parole agent. The senators who complained about the Prisoner Review Board’s process while Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s choices for board membership came under scrutiny singled out three cases out of hundreds the board has decided. Even those three inmates were chosen thoughtfully by the board, and they are doing very well outside of prison.
The senators focused on these inmates’ lives from 40-plus years ago, not the lives they are living now:
* Joseph Hurst is living with his wife of 53-plus years. He has been working with ex-prisoners at the IMAN and St. Leonard’s halfway houses in the Chicago area. He talks with groups about what he has gained from his prison experience. He and his wife, Zubaydah, have appeared on radio shows discussing incarceration, counseling and religion.
* Johnny Veal got married and works nights at a factory in Libertyville. In his spare time, he works for an agency that gives out food, clothing and furniture to the needy, and he does Zoom call outreach with Precious Blood Ministry in Chicago. He’s proud that he is paying taxes for the first time in his life.
* Paula Sims is living with friends out of state and is starting her own dog grooming business, a skill she learned in prison. She is active in her religion and works as a caregiver for three elderly sisters.
In addition to holding C-number parole hearings, the Prisoner Review Board spends far more time increasing and stabilizing the number of people in prison: It reviews parole agents’ revocations, and it puts individualized requirements on people when they finish their sentences. The problem is that last year, there were 4,500 revocation hearings and several thousand people who finished their sentences. All of these constitute simply too many cases for six members to handle.
So the Senate’s recent actions, ironically, may cause more crime, which may actually defeat its whole purpose in depopulating the Prisoner Review Board.
A functioning parole system provides people in prison with an incentive to educate themselves, improve their lives and maintain healthy relationships with others. It gives people in prison hope that their efforts at rehabilitation will be rewarded. That, of course, makes prison safer for everyone, including for the people who work there.
In fact, our legislators should institute a new system of parole for those who get incarcerated now. Do it for the sake of the prisoners, the staff and the prison system itself.
Jean Snyder is a lawyer who mostly represents lawyers in matters before the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Aviva Futorian is an attorney in Chicago who is working on prison reform with a focus on long-term prisoners and parole. Carolyn Klarquist is a supervisor at the state appellate defender’s office and represents C-number inmates pro bono at their parole hearings.
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