Reboletti Seeks to Abolish Cook County Boot Camp Sentencing

In the wake of reports detailing hundreds of cases where Cook County judges sentenced violent offenders to a boot camp program reserved for only nonviolent offenders, State Representative Dennis Reboletti (R-Elmhurst) is proposing legislation to eliminate Cook County’s boot camp program, citing gross lapses in sentencing oversight.

“At each checkpoint in the system, there’s been an evident lack of oversight and a lack of following statutes. Until these issues are corrected and a working mechanism for checks and balances is in place, we are going to continue to have serious problems with the boot camp program at the cost of public safety,” said Reboletti, who is a former prosecutor.

Reports of improper sentencing were first revealed by a Chicago Sun-Times investigation in November. The Sun-Time’s story highlighted the case of a 19-year-old armed robber improperly sentenced to the boot camp program – officially known as the Vocational Rehabilitation Impact Center – in 2007. Less than a year and a half after completing the program, he allegedly killed a college student and is currently awaiting trial on a murder charge. Read the rest of the story.