Sangamon Sun

Illinois state Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) worries that Gov. J.B. Pritzker's priorities may have been compromised during the coronavirus outbreak, particularly in regard to reportedly commuting the sentences of violent criminals.

“I’m very concerned about the fact that while the governor is having small businesses close their doors, he’s opening prison doors for violent criminals,” McClure told the West Central Reporter. “That makes no sense and certainly poses even more dangers for the state.”

McClure was one of nine Republican lawmakers to sign off on a letter demanding answers from the governor.

“We want to know, did he speak with the victims or their families or law enforcement leaders or the judge that sentenced these individuals,” McClure said. “One of the people he commuted was a guy who beat to death his 4-year child who was found to have bruises from head to toe. The governor’s actions effectively commuted a 40-year sentence.”

To date, McClure said the group is yet to have received a response from the governor’s office, but plans to keep pushing forward with its inquiry.

“He’s offered no rationale for his actions,” McClure said. “Hopefully, he will respond to our letter with some real answers and a commitment of talking with others before he makes any decisions like this again.”

In the end, McClure said there needs to be greater transparency about things that are done in Springfield that have the potential to directly impact everyone in the state.

“It makes me sad for the victims,” McClure said. “I would hope that the governor would be spending more of his time getting benefits to all the people hurt by this crisis. He doesn’t have time to fix those problems, but has time to commute the sentences of hardened criminals like these.”

Senators Jason Plummer, Brian Stewart, Chapin Rose, Jil Tracy, Paul Schimpf, Craig Wilcox, Dan McConchie and Dale Righter also signed off on the letter.