Quinn: Resignation right move for head of torture panel

Gov. Pat Quinn says the head of a commission investigating torture allegations made the right move in stepping down.

The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission’s executive director, David Thomas, quit Wednesday. Thomas’ resignation comes after he faced scrutiny because the panel wasn’t alerting relatives of murder victims that their cases were being examined.

Earlier this month Quinn called on Thomas to resign because he’d failed to notify relatives, which is required by law.

Quinn told reporters Thursday that he’d like to see a new director who follows the law.

The commission will hire another executive director.

Commission member Leonard Cavise says Thomas resigned during a contentious closed meeting. He declined to offer further details.

Cavise says that relatives of two murder victims called for Thomas to be removed.