Politics & Government

Cunningham Says No To Prison Board Member Who Paroled Cop Killers

Sen. Bill Cunningham casts no vote Illinois Prison Review Board nominee who voted to parole convicted cop killers, forces another to resign.

Sen. Bill Cunningham casts no vote Illinois Prison Review Board nominee who voted to parole convicted cop killers, forces another nominee to resign.
Sen. Bill Cunningham casts no vote Illinois Prison Review Board nominee who voted to parole convicted cop killers, forces another nominee to resign. (Courtesy of Sen. Bill Cunningham)

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Bill Cunningham (18th District) voted against the nomination of an interim member of the Illinois Prison Review Board who granted parole for two convicted cop killers.

On Monday, the Illinois Senate voted 31-15 against the nomination of Gov. J.B. Pritzker nominee Eleanor Wilson, who has been serving on the Illinois Prison Review Board in an interim capacity since Pritzker nominated her March 2021.

All 18 Republican state senate members and 13 Democrats voted against Wilson’s nomination to a permanent spot on the prison review board. Another Pritzker nominee, Orenthal James, resigned before the vote was taken. Thirteen other state senators from the majority party failed to vote.

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Cunningham, whose district includes Chicago’s 19th Ward, heavily populated by Chicago police officers and firefighters who are required to live in the city, issued a written statement following the state senate’s vote.

“The murder of a police officer is more than an attack on an individual, it is an attack on the rule of law itself,” Cunningham said. “No individual who commits such a heinous crime should ever be paroled. The prisoner review board should ensure that the most severe crimes are met with the most severe punishment under the law."

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Cunningham voted to not consent to the nomination of Wilson. She currently serves on the board and voted to release two convicted cop killers in February 2021. Oreal James, another appointee Cunningham committed to vote against, resigned Monday before a vote could be taken.

According to Cunningham, one of the men Wilson voted for was convicted of killing a Chicago police officer and wounding another. Another man she also voted to parole was convicted of murdering two other Chicago police officers. Both men were convicted of killing the Chicago police officers more than 50 years ago.


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