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92_HB5004gms
STATE OF ILLINOIS
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
SPRINGFIELD, 62706
GEORGE H. RYAN
GOVERNOR
July 19, 2002
To The Honorable Members of the
Illinois House of Representatives
92nd General Assembly
Pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(b) of the Illinois
Constitution of 1970, I hereby veto House Bill 5004 entitled
"AN ACT in relation to crime victims."
House Bill 5004 amends the Rights of Crime Victims and
Witnesses Act and the Open Parole Hearings Act to require the
Prisoner Review Board (the Board) to establish a toll-free
telephone number for a small number of crime victims to call
regarding parole of an offender. The bill allows a victim of
domestic violence or sexual assault to give information to
the Board over the toll-free number for consideration at the
parole hearing of the person who committed the crime against
the victim. The crimes covered by the bill are felonies that
involve sexual assault, domestic battery, aggravated domestic
battery, violation of an order of protection, or other felony
that involved force or violence against a household member.
House Bill 5004 is well intentioned, but does not enhance
our existing victims' rights laws. The bill only applies to a
few inmates, because it is limited to inmates still serving a
prison sentence under the indeterminate parole system that
was abolished for offenses committed after 1977. With current
file information, the Department of Corrections found only 34
inmates clearly covered by this bill, though a few others
could potentially be included as well. Current law affords
these and all other victims in parole cases, not just
domestic violence or sexual assault related case, the right
to be notified in advance of their offender's parole hearing.
Today, a victim can submit information to the Board for use
in the parole hearing by letter, film, videotape, recording,
or other electronic means. The victim may also attend the
hearing in person if they so choose. This includes the
spouse, parent or child of a victim that was killed in the
offense. According to the Prisoner Review Board, all victims
and interested parties who still file parole protests, now
after well over 25 years in most cases, are accustomed to the
existing procedures for objecting to parole. Most choose to
appear before the Board to object in person believing that a
personal appearance is more forceful than a letter or phone
call, which suggests that few victims would avail themselves
of this new system.
Finally, there is established by law a statewide
notification system for victims and witnesses to check the
status of inmates, including those under the parole system.
Implemented in early May, the Illinois Automated Victim
Notification (VINE) system is a fully automated service that
immediately notifies registered users via telephone, pager,
e-mail, fax or letter of any change in an offender's custody
status. It also provides access to a live person to assist
callers with using the system. Many agencies, including the
Board, can utilize this system to fulfill any duties
regarding providing notification to crime victims and
witnesses.
Therefore, I believe current law affords all victims easy
and effective ways to provide and receive information from
the Prisoner Review Board regarding inmates up for parole and
the additional expenditure required to establish and operate
this toll-free number is unnecessary.
For these reasons, I hereby veto and return House Bill
5004.
Sincerely,
s/GEORGE H. RYAN
Governor