New team members, money need to keep innocent out of prison
Add Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon and Chief Judge Susan Clancy Boles to the roster of people who believe the local justice system must improve if it wants to avoid having innocent people in prison.
McMahon will press the county board to find room in the 2017 budget to add two more assistant state's attorneys and an administrative assistant. Finding that room won't come easy. The county board must close a $4.5 million projected deficit for 2017 to keep a property tax freeze in place.
The three new staff members for McMahon would form a Conviction Integrity Unit. Cook and Lake are the only other two counties with such a unit in place. The units review claims of innocence by people already convicted of crimes who have exhausted their appeals. The reviews come when new, credible evidence appears or a new witness is found.
McMahon's request comes now because the Illinois Supreme Court added new rules of conduct for prosecutors this year. One of those rules says a prosecutor who knows a defendant was wrongfully convicted must seek to remedy the conviction.
Statistics show 321 people convicted of crimes in Kane County since 2009 have asked for post conviction reviews of such evidence.
“This is the right thing to do from an ethical perspective, and it's the right thing to do from a risk management perspective as well,” McMahon recently told the county board's judicial and public safety committee. “We have a system of human beings. With all due respect, we make mistakes.”
Boles supports McMahon's request, even if it means phasing in the new unit because the county is in a budget crunch.
“We're all in agreement that there is some action that needs to be taken now for the continuation of responsible justice in Kane County,” Boles said. “There is a need to have a checks and balances as it relates to convictions and what is happening across the justice system.”
McMahon's request comes on the heels of similar concern about fair and equal justice from the other side of the courtroom. Public Defender Kelli Childress has repeatedly lobbied the county board for permission to add two more attorneys to her office. With current staffing, Childress said she can't say with confidence that her office can always provide a defense rigorous enough to prevent wrongful convictions.
Both staffing requests will receive more scrutiny during budget debates that will occur during the next few months. Kane County Sheriff Don Kramer has also asked for money to address low staffing in his area of the justice system.