Republican candidate for Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine attacked the record of rival Democrat Crystal Uhe, first assistant State's Attorney, saying that 90 percent of clemency requests from convicted felons since last year went "completely unopposed."
And today, Haine said that a response from Uhe via the State's Attorney's office indicating it had a "standing objection" on murder cases with the state's Prisoner Review Board was "dishonest."
He obtained records from the Prisoner Review Board showing that 14 of 15 clemency requests included ones from convicted murderers Michael Strader, Jessie Logan, Kwayera Jackson, Douglas White and Qirshton D. Smith, as well as convicted kidnapper Antonio Fletcher.
Child murderer Kwayera Jackson, convicted of killing his own 5-month son, was released from jail in April, but would have been in prison until 2040 if not for early release, according to Haine.
Regarding the Jackson case, he said the Prisoner Review Board told him that “the Board received no response from the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office regarding this Petition, either in writing or via personal appearance at the public hearing held in July of 2019.”
Haine also provided a statement from the Prisoner Review Board that contradicts Uhe's statement that a standing objection to clemency petitions was in place.
"I can confirm that the Board does not permit blanket 'standing objections' in clemency cases," said Jason Sweat, chief legal counsel for the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. "Nor has it received a response seeking to take such a position."
Haine claims that none of the requests for early release from the convicted murderers and kidnapper, since 2019, were opposed by Uhe.
"This was a failure of leadership, pure and simple," Haine said in a release. "When I am State's Attorney, we will never lose an opportunity to ensure justice is served for victims, and violent criminals serve their full sentence under law. The last thing Madison County needs right now is more violent criminals on the streets."
The State's Attorney's office on Friday responded to a request for Uhe's comment, saying that the office registered a standing objection to all murder case parole decisions with the Prisoner Review Board, "delivered personally by the State’s Attorney to the Board several years ago."
The response further indicated that the Prisoner Review Board acknowledged the objection and assured that the Board would consider the early release objected to, unless they hear otherwise from the State’s Attorney or a member of the staff.
"In this specific case (Jackson), that standing objection remained in place and should have been considered by the Board in making their decision," the State's Attorney's office response says. "Despite this objection to release, the Prisoner Review Board made the tragic decision to release the person who committed this terrible crime back into our community, as they have now done with other individuals on countless occasions. The decision to release defendants rests solely in the hands of the Prisoner Review Board, and their denial of our objection to the release of this and many other dangerous individuals put our community at risk.
"It is unfortunate to see a young and inexperienced attorney trying to become a politician and score political points by surrounding himself with disgruntled former employees and making baseless claims. Once again, young Mr. Haine has his facts wrong, which is a very dangerous thing for someone who wants citizens to make him their State’s Attorney.”
Haine issued a statement on Monday, saying, "It appears Crystal Uhe's office is being dishonest with the citizens of Madison County. How can voters trust her with the job of State's Attorney after these fabricated stories to cover up her own failures?"
He provided another statement from Sweat of the Prisoner Review Board who said: "There is no State's Attorney's office in Illinois, and specifically the Madison County State's Attorney's office, registering a blanket 'standing objection' to clemency cases before the PRB. There is a reason that the law requires that each State's Attorney be given notice and an opportunity to respond for each individual case. Our records indicate that the Madison County State's Attorney's office registered no objection to Kwayera Jackson's petition for clemency."
Former Madison County assistant state's attorney John Fischer said in Haine's release that the job of the State's Attorney's office "does not end once a defendant is convicted."
"Requests from the PRB must be handled with the same level of attention as any other stage of a criminal prosecution," said Fischer, who worked in the office 12 years and was a former criminal division chief.
'The Governor depends on the State's Attorney Office to provide insight into the case and, if warranted, oppose these clemency requests. A lack of a response signals a lack of opposition to the clemency petition. With no response from the State’s Attorney’s Office, the PRB and Governor are left with only one side of the story - that of the convicted criminal.”
Former Madison County first assistant State’s Attorney and prosecutor for almost 40 years, Susan Jensen, said she and Kyle Napp, now a Madison County circuit judge, prosecuted Kwayera Jackson.
"That was our case," Jensen said. "The fact that he is back on the streets is an absolute travesty. The First Assistant State’s Attorney is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the entire office. Uhe was responsible when Jackson requested to get out of jail early. I can think of no good reason why Uhe failed to oppose Jackson’s request for early release.”
The process of clemency goes through the Prisoner Review Board which then advises the Governor on whether they should be granted. Some petitions come from imprisoned criminals, some from those with past convictions, and each time a criminal requests clemency, the Board sends a letter to the local State's Attorney where that criminal was convicted, asking for an opinion on whether to grant the clemency. Then, the Board makes a recommendation to the Governor.