Responding to the early release of Kwayera Jackson, convicted for the brutal murder of his five month old son, Tom Gibbons, the current Madison County State’s Attorney and candidate for Circuit Judge, claimed in an October 24 statement to the Telegraph that he had personally registered a standing objection to “all murder case parole decisions with the Prisoner Review Board.” The Illinois Prisoner Review Board has confirmed that not only did the Board receive no specific objection in this extremely disturbing case, but that no standing objection has been filed by Gibbons. "I can confirm that the Board does not permit blanket ‘standing objections’ in clemency cases," says Jason Sweat, Chief Legal Counsel for the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. "Nor has it received a response seeking to take such a position.”
Since 2019, Gibbons has failed to respond in 14 out of 15 cases before the Board, including cases of murder and kidnapping. In spite of Gibbons’ claim that his objection covered “all murder cases,” Mr. Sweat further stated "[t]here is no State's Attorney's office in Illinois, and specifically the Madison County State's Attorney's office, registering a blanket ‘standing objection’ to clemency cases before the PRB. There is a reason that the law requires that each State's Attorney be given notice and an opportunity to respond for each individual case. Our records indicate that the Madison County State's Attorney's office registered no objection to Kwayera Jackson's petition for clemency."
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Amy Maher, a former Assistant State’s Attorney who is opposing Gibbons in the race for Circuit Judge, said she did some work on the Kwayera Jackson case during the investigation and was shocked when she learned he had been released early with no objection from Gibbons. “It’s even more disturbing to learn that Gibbons falsely claimed to have objected when his failure to act was revealed. Mr. Gibbons had a choice, he could tell the truth and take responsibility, or he could tell a lie and help himself in his campaign. He put his personal interest ahead of the public interest.”
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