Legislative Action Special Section                                                       

Give us a break. Stop adding new sentences that jam more people into our overcrowded prisons.

That was the message corrections officials and members of the Governor's Task Force on Crime and Corrections tried to get across to the General Assembly. Nevertheless, 267 crime-related bills were sent to the House Judiciary II Committee this session. Of that number, 93 made it to the governor's desk.

Perhaps the most significant new criminal activity bound to send more people to prison is carjacking. Spawned by the increase in theft of occupied cars, often with the thief using weapons, new legislation creates the offenses of carjacking, a Class 1 felony, and aggravated carjacking, a Class X felony. Aggravated carjacking occurs when a dangerous weapon is used. It carries a minimum prison sentence of seven years. For either offense, there is no chance for probation, conditional discharge or periodic imprisonment.

Sen. Carl R. Hawkinson (R-47, Galesburg), a member of the task force and sponsor of the legislation for the new Class X offense of carjacking, says that the legislature did keep in mind the task force recommendations and did use caution in passing sentencing expansions. Except for the new carjacking offense, no other legislation passed this session carried mandatory, nonprobational sentences. Sen. Hawkinson says, "[Carjacking] is a new and spreading

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offense, and we had to take action to deal with it." He says the Department of Corrections did not oppose the carjacking legislation.

Corrections officials also report that the number of bills sent to the governor this session is lower than in previous sessions. Here is a sampling of this session's other new crime legislation sent to the governor:

• Stalking. Clarifying the stalking law passed last year, the new legislation includes in the definition of stalking any action that would place a person in "reasonable apprehension of immediate or future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement or restraint." Anyone now convicted of stalking would be disqualified from receiving a second set of 90 days good time credit, which means the convict could earn no more than 90 days to be subtracted from his or her sentence.

• Death penalty for drug kingpins. Drug kingpins, leaders of organized drug gangs, may now be given the death penalty for murder carried out or committed under their orders.

• Anti-Kevorkian. In an effort to prevent Dr. Jack Kevorkian or any other physician from bringing "suicide machines" to Illinois, new legislation expanded current law on inducement to commit suicide to include the "physical means" by which another person commits or attempts to commit suicide. The law would not affect people who have living wills or fall under the Health Care Surrogate Act, which says that doctors cannot be prosecuted for failing to hook up to life supports people who have requested in advance that no heroic efforts be made in the event of terminal illness.

• Child workers/sex offenses. A copy of a conviction for a drug or sex offense must be sent to the employer of anyone working at a school, child care facility or at a job with children under 18.

• Ignition lockup for drunks. The secretary of state can set up a pilot program to see if requirements for ignition interlock devices would be effective for drivers arrested a second or subsequent time for driving under the influence of alcohol. The technology prevents a car from starting if the driver fails to pass an on-board breath test that measures alcohol levels. *

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