On Thursday, Illinois Corrections Director Michael Randle announced his resignation following months of criticism over a secret prisoner release program that led the accidental release of hundreds of prisoners with records of violence.
As the Associated Press reports, Randle's departure comes after a review last month of the early release program that found the Corrections Department didn't consider possible dangers to the public when it tried to save money by letting prisoners out early, including some who were violent.
Gov. Pat Quinn canceled MGT Push - named for the "meritorious good time" that was granted to prisoners - after the Associated Press revealed the program's existence last fall. By then, some 1,700 inmates had been granted early release.
The MGT Push scandal has continually been mentioned by Republican Senator Bill Brady, who is running against Quinn for governor. Quinn has heaped most of the blame on Randle. Now, Randle is returning to Ohio, where he had been assistant director of the state prison system, to run a community correctional facility in Cleveland for a not-for-profit agency--and some are blaming Brady for his departure.
On Friday, a Chicago Sun-Times editorial titled "Prison chief is victim of political games" blamed both Quinn and Brady for Randle's resignation--saying that "election-year critics who sought to portray him as inept" led to Illinois losing someone with fresh ideas for our "dismal" prison system.
"Quinn brought Randle aboard last year to implement his philosophy of diverting more offenders into community-based programs and releasing other low-level offenders early," the Sun-Times editorial board wrote. "That philosophy may offend those who prefer the easy mantra of "lock 'em up" but it recognizes reality..."
". . . we take no joy in Randle's departure. This isn't a good time to be chief of anything in Illinois. He arrived a little over a year ago with a big reputation and some good ideas, and he deserves credit for quickly addressing questions about the warehousing of mentally ill inmates at the state's only supermax prison. But he'll be remembered for MGT Push.
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Quinn's Republican rival, Bill Brady, has had a lot to say about MGT Push. What he hasn't done is tell us what a Gov. Brady would do instead. He's promised not to raise taxes and vowed to cut state spending by 10 percent, but so far the only expendable item he's identified in the prison budget is cable television. That's not going to get the job done."
Randle is the second top Quinn aide to leave in as many weeks. Quinn's chief of staff Jerry Stermer resigned in late August over an investigation into questionable emails he sent from his government account.
Brady has consistently been leading Quinn in the polls, sometimes by more than ten points, but many are wondering when he will share some of his own ideas.
"We don't need anyone to tell us how not to cut costs at the Department of Corrections; Quinn and Randle have already done that," the Tribune wrote Friday. "We're waiting for Brady to convince us he could do better."