Lake County Gazette

State Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) laments the COVID-19 pandemic has brought out the real Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“Failed Gov. Pritzker is commuting the sentences of murderers,” McSweeney told the Lake County Gazette. “He is jeopardizing the safety of all Illinois families. Pritzker is dangerously soft on crime."

As part of his plan to slowing the spread of the deadly virus, WAND TV reports the governor has released more than 4,000 prisoners from custody, some of them with violent histories, from custody, over the last two months.

Among those released were inmates charged with murder and several sentenced to lifetime sentences. In addition, more than half of those released had more than a year to serve remaining.

Besides blasting the move as “unacceptable,” McSweeney said Pritzker "is putting all Illinois citizens at risk.”

In a statement, the governor’s office has defended the moves as “a clear process that has been used for decades when governors exercise their clemency powers."

The governor’s office also insists the Prisoner Review Board made recommendations to the governor all clemency petitions.

“The governor is a strong believer in criminal justice reform and that means carefully and thoughtfully considering petitions for clemency from those who have demonstrated a commitment to rehabilitation while serving their sentence," the statement added.

The Illinois Department of Corrections recently released a list that shows all of the inmates that have had their sentence commuted or were released since March 1 or around the time that widespread reports of the coronavirus first started circulating.

From that list, at least 64 of the newly released were serving time for murder, with four of the convictions being handed down in Illinois.