Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner is doubling down on his pledge to cut the state’s prison population by 25 percent. Today, Rauner signed an executive order creating a commission tasked with finding ways to trim more than 12 thousand prisoners from the rolls in the next 10 years.
" We have one of the most crowded prison systems in the United States."
"I won’t lie and say I’m not a little tired of committees and task forces when it comes to this issue." Rep. Mike Zalewski chaired the Illinois General Assembly’s own committee on criminal justice reform this summer.
"By issuing an executive order he gets the proper credit for a new, progressive approach. I’m less interested in the form this is taking than in getting something done."
And Rauner says the new commission is a necessary first step. "This will be done right, it will be comprehensive and it will be done in a prompt time frame."
Zalewski says he hopes the governor’s leadership will encourage Republican lawmakers to take tough votes on sentencing reform in the future.