Pritzker running mate wants to make it easier for jail inmates to vote

2018年2月8日星期四

Pritzker running mate wants to make it easier for jail inmates to vote

Topspin

A coalition of civil rights advocates, law enforcement officials and lawmakers led by Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Juliana Stratton is pushing legislation to expand access to voting for jail inmates, saying they are being denied their right to cast a ballot across the state.

Stratton is a state representative from Chicago and governor candidate J.B. Pritzker's running mate. She said at a Capitol news conference that widespread misinformation has prevented people awaiting trial or who have already served their time from voting.

Under state law, people who have been convicted and are serving a prison sentence are prohibited from voting. People who are in custody awaiting trial, have completed their sentence, or are on probation or parole can vote. But Stratton said opportunities for people in jail to vote vary widely in Illinois, and many with past convictions do not know they are able to vote.

"These gaps in our voting system are unacceptable," said Stratton, who added that voting is an important part of integrating people back into society after they are released.

Her proposal would require county jails and election officials to put in place a process that allows detainees to cast a ballot, and provides a voter registration application to any person in custody who is eligible to vote. Prisoners being released from custody would receive notification that their right to vote has been restored, and Cook County would be able to establish temporary polling places in jails.

The measure has the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Lake County and Cook County already have programs that allow detainees to vote through absentee and mail-in ballots.

Republican Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said the program costs nothing to administer, saying employees go cellblock to cellblock asking who wants a ballot or forms to register to vote. He said roughly 100 of 700 detainees took advantage of the program in the last election.

"If they can vote but for the fact that a jail superintendent or warden will not give them an absentee ballot … that's not acceptable. We have to do better as a society," Curran said.

The Capitol news conference about the legislation came a day after Pritzker apologized for comments he made about African-American politicians a decade ago. (Monique Garcia)

What's on tap

*Mayor Rahm Emanuel has no public events.

*Gov. Bruce Rauner will meet with the Polish American Association in Chicago in the morning. Later, he'll hold an event with Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti about preventing opioid overdose deaths, then the governor will tap the first keg of Illinois Bicentennial 1818 craft beer at a Chicago Binny's.

*The Illinois Senate will be in session. The House canceled its session.

*Early voting is supposed to start Thursday in Illinois, but there are delays, including in the Chicago area.

*Democratic governor candidate Chris Kennedy and running mate Ra Joy will announce an education plan near Chicago Public Schools HQ.

From the notebook

*Ives launches radio ad: Republican governor candidate state Rep. Jeanne Ives has launched a radio ad that begins by playing off the attention she has received for her controversial TV commercial.

"Now that I've got your attention," is how Ives begins narrating her ad.

In the one-minute spot, Ives accuses Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner of having "betrayed conservative families" as she also touts "battling Chicago Democrats" in the legislature and opposing a bill she contends "took money from your schools to bail out the Chicago Public Schools."

"Rauner can't win re-election. He said he's not in charge," she says in the ad. "With your help, I'll lead the charge." (Rick Pearson)

*Lawsuit seeking first lady emails might end: A former member of Gov. Rauner's communications team has asked to dismiss a lawsuit seeking emails from first lady Diana Rauner about a controversial abortion bill.

The suit was filed by Diana Rickert, who briefly served as Rauner's chief of staff for communications last summer. It alleges the governor's office did not follow open records laws by failing to release records she requested.

Court records show Rickert filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the suit Wednesday. Attorneys for the Liberty Justice Center, which is where she now works and which is representing her in the case, did not respond to a request for comment.

Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold said the administration provided Rickert with documents and "there was nothing left to litigate."

Rickert was seeking emails sent to or written by Diana Rauner that reference abortion and the controversial bill the governor signed in September that expands taxpayer-funded abortions. Diana Rauner, who is a Democrat and heads an early childhood welfare group, is among the governor's closest advisers.

Rickert served in Rauner's administration for just over a month after he parted ways with top staff after lawmakers in both parties voted to override his veto of a major income tax hike and budget. Rickert was one of several employees Rauner brought in from the Illinois Policy Institute, a libertarian-to-conservative think tank to which he donated more than $500,000 before becoming governor.

The institute's CEO, John Tillman, called the governor "Benedict Rauner" on Facebook after he signed the abortion bill, and Ives has pointed to the issue as a key reason why she launched a primary challenge against Rauner. (Monique Garcia)

*Preckwinkle criticizes immigrant's detention: Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Wednesday criticized federal officials' detention of an immigrant at the Cook County courthouse in Skokie, saying such arrests "could threaten public safety by discouraging individuals from engaging with the criminal justice system."

Christian Gomez Garcia, who qualified for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, was taken last week by immigration officials as he left the courthouse, where he appeared on a traffic violation. He was detained for three days, but then released after an outcry by immigration activists and his lawyer.

"We're all safer when everyone in Cook County feels comfortable using our court system and believes in justice," Preckwinkle said. "Make no mistake. These measures from the Trump administration are designed to intimidate our immigrant communities and to force people back into the shadows."

She called on the president and Congress to "recognize courthouses as sensitive locations free from civil immigration action." But federal officials last year said courthouses are safer places for them to make arrests, because people there are screened for weapons on their way in. (Hal Dardick)

*Madigan-aligned attorney to help in Drury case: A union group trying to knock Democratic attorney general candidate Scott Drury off the March primary ballot announced it hired an attorney with close ties to House Speaker Michael Madigan to help.

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 announced the move Tuesday. It is pretty unusual for a group to make a big deal out of announcing the attorney it's hired for a ballot challenge. Many, many candidates and challengers have been represented by Michael Kasper over the years, and most don't send out a news release to celebrate retaining him.

Drury is in the process of appealing a Cook County judge's decision that he should be removed from the ballot over an economic interest statement dispute. Previously, state election officials ruled Drury should get to run.

On Sunday, Drury said he believes Madigan once thought he was "wearing a wire" during a meeting between the two. In response, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said, "I have no information that suggests any part of that story is accurate." Added Brown: "And I know Scott proved himself to be an extremely difficult member to work with, according to many of his colleagues."

Then on Wednesday, Drury tweeted a brief voicemail in which Madigan asks for a call back.

"Like James Comey, I, too, thought it wise to keep records of interactions with a power hungry leader used to getting his way," Drury said in a statement.

*Quick spin: Democratic governor candidate state Sen. Daniel Biss was endorsed by the National Association of Social Workers.

What we're writing

*Preckwinkle backs Pritzker, a day after he apologized for remarks on African-American politicians.

*Rauner budget chief gives lawmakers the good news, and the bad news.

*Rauner denies clemency to green card-holding veteran facing deportation.

*Berrios challenger Kaegi calls assessor's office "for sale" as candidates hold dueling news conferences.

*Chicago homeless couple sues city, alleging property rights violated in a test of a new state law.

*Elon Musk company among four groups showing interest in O'Hare express train project.

What we're reading

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*Cook County judge refuses to reduce bond for accused "serial stowaway."

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