IL Dems Want to Change Term 'Offender' to 'Justice-Impacted Individual'

Democrat state lawmakers in Illinois are hoping to change a 2009 bill to reclassify the term used for criminals.

Fox News reported on Wednesday that House Bill 4409, which is being sponsored by several Democrats, will amend the Illinois Crime Reduction Act’s references from “offenders” to “justice-impacted individuals.”

“It would also add members to the Adult Redeploy Illinois Oversight Board from the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Sangamon and Cook County Adult Probation departments, as well as two members who have personal experience with the Adult Redeploy Illinois system,” the Fox article said.

The news comes as Illinois is being lead by Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) who won reelection in 2022, according to Breitbart News. The outlet noted that Pritzker has long been criticized for his soft-on-crime policies.

It is also important to note that Illinois became the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail in September.

When speaking of the effort to reclassify some “offenders” as “justice-impacted individuals,” state Sen. Steve McClure (R) stated, “There seems to be this rush to take away all accountability for people who commit crimes,” the Washington Examiner reported Wednesday.

“If a person is going to get on the right path, they have to know they did something wrong. This apologizing for the criminal, the person who chooses to commit crimes to the detriment of our victims, the people who don’t choose to be victims of crimes, is absolutely incredible,” he added.

According to the Fox report, “The legislation is being sponsored by Democratic Illinois State Reps. Kelly M. Cassidy and Lindsey LaPointe and Democratic State Sens. Robert Peters, Mike Simmons and Adriane Johnson.”

The legislation passed the state House and Senate earlier this week, according to WGN News. However, the possible change would apply to approximately 1800 offenders in Illinois.

In response to the bill, McClure also said, “Change this, change that. The only thing that you don’t want to change is the behavior of criminals. And guess who’s paying for that right now? Victims all across this state. I urge a no vote.”