Politics: Catch-and-Release Kevin at it again
Per the Journal Star and the Peoria Times-Observer, we have learned that five of the six people arrested in a drug bust Wednesday in the East Bluff were allowed to leave jail after the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office issued notices to appear.
My two cents: Let that sink in for a moment folks. The elected official who’s job it is to put those he believes are criminals in jail let these people charged with a crime to walk out without posting bond. This includes 22-year-old Justin Rodgers. He faces six felony drug and weapons, according to HOINews.
Rodgers is convicted felon.
Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis and City Councilman Bob Manning held a press conference Sunday to ask publicly why these people were released.
And then Lyons held his own conference:
In response to Ardis’ questions, Lyons said Rodgers was released from jail because he planned to use Rodgers’ arrest this week against him at his Dec. 4 hearing to revoke his probation for previous Tazewell County drug charges. Lyons said his decision is Rodgers’ “quickest and most direct way to the prison door.”
And exactly what is wrong with letting this knucklehead stew in a jail cell waiting for Dec. 4 hearing that Lyons is oh-so-sure will send him away? That way, the good people of the East Bluff would have an extra month without having to suffer his presence.
Lyons also said that he wasn’t quite ready to decide by Friday exactly what to charge the people who were arrested on Wednesday, and because he can’t hold people without charges for longer than 48 hours, he cut ‘em loose. And it was Friday.
Seems to me that solution would have been to — hold onto your hats folks — actually charge them with something. Police has this joint up for two weeks. If we had a state’s attorney actually capable of working well with police, Lyons might have been in a better position to know exactly what to charge these them.
Lyons is right about one thing. He says politics was the motivation for the press conference.
Absolutely. GOOD politics. The kind of politics that’s all about trying to put the needs of the public above the needs of hack career bureaucrats like Catch-And-Release Kevin Lyons.
Kudos to Ardis and Manning.
Lyons also complained that all the attention on this cases puts the prosecution at risk. Lyons said this at his own press conference.
I came to the conclusion years ago that Peoria would never fully get a handle on the crime problems driving families away from the city and out of our schools. I don’t think that the election of Darin LaHood will be the cure for crime. But it’s a start to making things better.
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:03 am
[...] post about the breaking news that touched on themes and issues close to my heart. Kevin Lyons was catching and releasing again. Thomas Jefferson School caught fire, and the closure of the Fire Station 11 located right across [...]
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:22 am
I can only hope this poll proves correct.
http://www.peoria.com/vote.php?poll_id=77&view_results=1
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:02 am
I have a little more sympathy for Lyons after sitting on a jury. The perp in our case was just barely (and I mean barely) brought in with enough evidence to convict. If that was the good case (the one he didn’t release), then I have to imagine that the police occasionally have *even less* evidence than they did on this case.
I want to be clear–every Peoria police office I’ve met is a fine person and they have hard jobs that deserve respect. But our legal system (rightly) presumes innocence and there is a minimum amount of evidence to convict someone of a crime and the state’s attorney’s office can’t get use evidence the police don’t provide.
In my opinion, some interdepartmental working (police and attorneys) would go a long way. It’s hard for people with vastly different jobs (courthouse vs. the streets of the city) to understand and respect the jobs each other do.
That being said, Lyons hasn’t impressed me. I’m just more sympathetic to the “catch and release” thing than I was before serving on the jury.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:40 am
Mr. Mayor:
Please do not use your elected position (my dime) to campaign for one of your high school sweethearts. It will undoubtedly cost you at least one vote. Now put your cheerleading skirt back on and promote Peoria.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:56 am
Deebie: Jim Ardis and Darin LaHood attended the same high school, but at far different times. No connection, sorry.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:01 am
Roman III: Sorry, should have written with instead of for. My mistake
November 5th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Now that Kevin won re-election, Billy, I REALLY hope that you don’t get stopped for so much as a speeding ticket.
November 5th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I’m thinking about moving to Tazewell County.