Two state agencies charged with keeping the
public safe from convicted criminals are clashing over sex
offenders. In recent months, the state Department of
Corrections has been going through the motions when it comes to
freeing sex offenders scheduled for parole. Inmates are given their
release papers, walked to the gates of prisons, then promptly
arrested by DOC officers and returned to their cells because they
haven’t found a satisfactory place to live. Corrections officials classify such cases as
parole violations. The Prisoner Review Board, however, has sided
with inmates in more than a dozen hearings and ordered that they be
released. But prison officials have been defying the board’s
instructions. Some inmates have gone through the cycle several
times and remain behind bars despite multiple hearings and demands
from the parole board that they be released. “Inmate has been paroled three times
and is violated each time before he goes out,” the board
noted in written findings after a June hearing in the case of
Marcial Guerrero, who is serving a three-year sentence for
aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a juvenile and was scheduled
for parole nearly a year ago. “This inmate is not in
violation and must be released and a host site found. DOC must find
a place NOW.”
The board ruled in Guerrero’s favor in
three subsequent hearings. Nonetheless, he remains behind bars at
Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling. “Over the years, it’s been our
policy not to release an inmate unless they have a valid address to
which to parole,” says Sergio Molina, executive assistant to
Roger E. Walker Jr., corrections chief. “In the interest of
public safety, we’re not going to set these sex offenders
free to roam the streets.”
At least 17 inmates caught in the cycle have
sued the Department of Corrections, and more lawsuits could come.
Jorge Montes, chairman of the Prisoner Review Board, says that the
problem began about eight months ago and that there’s no sign
of a solution. “This process has begun to impact, give or
take, 200 individuals, I’m told,” Montes says.
“We’ve seen one person eight times. It’s like a turnstile —
come in and go out, come in and go out. The parole board, of course,
hasn’t been very happy about it.” Alan Mills, a lawyer with the Uptown
People’s Law Center in Chicago, which provides legal help to
inmates, says that his organization is considering a lawsuit.
“The Department of Corrections and the Prisoner Review Board
are at war with each other, and, unfortunately, the prisoners are
caught in the middle,” Mills says. “Homelessness is not
a crime, nor is it a violation of your parole. It’s unfair,
unconstitutional, and illegal to force someone to stay in prison
because they’re homeless.”
Prison officials acknowledge it’s tough
for a sex offender to find a legal residence, and lawmakers
haven’t made it any easier. Many sex offenders aren’t
allowed to live near playgrounds or schools. Some can’t live
with children in the same household. A fixed address is vital
because corrections officials want electronic monitoring for every
paroled sex offender, which means that the parolee must have a
telephone. A bill passed during the last legislative session makes
it illegal for more than one sex offender to live at the same
address. “We do make every effort to assist
these parolees in identifying places to live, but it’s
difficult,” Molina says. “In some cases, we would pay,
but the beds are simply not available. We’re constantly
looking for solutions. This is not an issue that’s going to
go away.” Mills suggests that sex-offender parolees
without fixed addresses telephone their parole officers on an
hourly basis. But that’s not good enough in the eyes of
prison officials. “I’ll tell you — this director
is a former sheriff of Macon County,” Molina says. “He
is not going to allow the release of any inmates to placate those
who want to see them out of prison when they have a high potential
to reoffend.”
Montes says that the board understands the
dilemma faced by the DOC. “They’re in a very difficult
position,” he says. But he also notes that prison sentences
eventually expire. “They’re eventually going to be
released,” he says. “It would be better to release them
with some level of supervision.”
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 2, 2005.
