In a March 22 Facebook post, Sen. Steve McClure (R-Jacksonville) gave his constituents a look at the ongoing controversy involving Illinois’ Prisoner Review Board and one of its now-former members, Max Cerda, a convicted murderer.
“An update on the ongoing Prisoner Review Board controversy. Today, the Senate Democrats finally called one of the appointees for a vote and he was rejected by a bipartisan majority,” said Morrison.
He posted a video giving background on how Cerda, as a member of the Prisoner Review Board, voted to release a convict he had served time with.
“There’s a conflict of interest when you’ve got convicted murderer voting to release a person that he served time with. That’s a problem, that’s a shocking thing that no matter what political party you’re affiliated with you are shocked by such a thing,” said McClure in the video clip.
On March 25, Gov. J.B. Pritzker pulled Cerda’s nomination to serve on the Prisoner Review Board and instead called for Senate action. “It is critical to both public safety and justice that the Senate Executive Appointments Committee act on this so that this board can fully function,” Pritzker said in a letter dated March 15.
Cerda was appointed to the board in March 2021. He was the first ex-offender to hold the position, according to Build Chicago.
