ILLINOIS PRISON PROJECT
ACTION FUND

Under the felony murder rule, a person can be convicted of first degree murder if they participate in a forcible felony, such as robbery, that results in another person’s death. Typical cases involve multiple people, and those with minimal roles in the underlying offense, such as getaway drivers, are charged and punished as if they actually caused the death.

IPPaf is working to curtail excessive sentencing by reclassifying felony murder from first to second degree.

Illinois is one of only a handful of states that still imposes a life without parole sentence for people convicted of a third “strike.” When a prosecutor seeks a conviction under the three strikes law, a judge has no option but to hand down the punishment.

IPPaf is working to repeal Illinois' three strikes law, returning discretion to judges and ending a costly, ineffective and overly punitive sentencing practice.

The Joe Coleman Act Medical Release Act created a lifeline to seriously ill incarcerated people in Illinois. This landmark legislation established for the very first time a compassionate release process allowing terminally ill people to petition the Illinois Prisoner Review Board (PRB) for release under certain circumstances. The act addressed humanitarian concerns by providing an opportunity for those with severe, life-threatening medical conditions to spend their remaining days with dignity, outside prison walls.

HB 5396 amends the Joe Coleman Act to ensure the just and efficient implementation of the medical release process. This bill provides for minor but important clarifications/fixes to implement the Act as it was originally intended.