During April and May, 2023, Governor Pritzker granted a total of thirteen (13) pardons, in various forms, here in our state. On April 18th, five (5) petitioners with cases from various counties within Illinois, ranging in dates from 1981 to 2002, had their sentences commuted to “parole eligible”. In addition, one (1) petitioner’s sentence, which included Mandatory Supervised Release (MSR), was commuted. For those not familiar, to “commute a sentence” means that the Governor, in this case, essentially substitutes the original sentence imposed by a judge or jury to something lesser. It goes without saying, then, that all six (6) of the clemency petitions granted on April 18, 2023, were involving then-currently incarcerated individuals; the next batch of clemency grants (discussed below), involved people who had already served their respective sentences and were seeking the ability to return to court to pursue expungement of statutorily ineligible convictions (and possibly restoration of previously-forfeited firearms rights).
Next, on May 4, 2023, Governor Pritzker granted a total of seven (7) petitions for executive clemency by pardoning, with the authorization to expunge, but without restoring previously-forfeited firearms rights. The pardons included cases from McLean, Cook, Jefferson, Lawrence, Wayne, and Clay Counties that ranged in dates from at least as far back as 1987 through 2004. The pardoned convictions included both misdemeanors and felonies, such as retail theft, burglary, forgery, theft, and possession of controlled substance.
Thank you, Governor Pritzker, for giving all these undoubtedly deserving people a second chance in this regard!