Column: Tax cuts, crime are driving election-year politics – Champaign News-Gazette*

Jim Dey: "The crime debate coincides with a movement to reduce prison populations. Corrections Department records reveal the numbers have fallen sharply over the last eight years. In February 2013, Illinois’ prison population was 49,401. By 2021, it was 27,413. Given the propensity of released inmates to re-offend, it should be no surprise that releasing nearly 22,000 convicted felons has gone hand in hand with rising crime rates."