A man who has served 23 years of a 40 year sentence for murder says the state has violated his constitutional rights by blocking him and other "juvenile offenders" to take advantage of greater parole opportunities under a new state law, because he was convicted before that law took effect in 2019.
Israel Ruiz filed suit against Gov. JB Pritzker and the state of Illinois in Chicago federal court on Dec. 20, challenging the law that rewrote the parole rules for people convicted of crimes they were accused of commiting before they turned 21 years old.
The law, known as Public Act 100-1182, was passed by the Democratic controlled Illinois General Assembly, with strong support from both current Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and current Illinois State Sen. President Don Harmon. The Act was signed into law by Pritzker, also a Democrat, in June 2019.
Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park), at podium, with Gov. JB Pritzker
| facebook.com/SenatorDonHarmon/
The law increased parole opportunities for juvenile offenders under the age of 21, and would also extend to those convicted of first degree murder. The law, however, applies only to those sentenced after June 1, 2019, and is not retroactive to those sentenced before that date.
Ruiz is represented in the case by attorneys Ann H. MacDonald, William P. Ziegelmueller, and Meera Gorjala, of the firm Arentfox Schiff LLP, of Chicago.
Ruiz was convicted of first degree murder in connection with the gang-related shooting death of Nathaniel Walls in 1998. According to a report published by The Chicago Tribune, Walls was carrying his three-year-old son to a store in the 8900 block of South Brandon Avenue in Chicago's South Chicago neighborood when he was caught in a gang crossfire. Though he wasn't the intended target, Walls was struck by gunfire and died.
Ruiz, then 18 years old, was among three men charged in connection with the shooting. Ruiz was convicted in 2000, and sentenced to 40 years in prison. According to his lawsuit, Ruiz has served 23 years at the Dixon Correctional Facility, and has been declared ineligible for parole.
However, in his lawsuit, Ruiz notes Public Act 100-1182 now declares that all people convicted of a first degree murder committed when they were under 21 years of age shall be eligible for parole review after serving 20 years or more of their sentence. The law, however, does not apply to those convicted before June 2019, making Ruiz still ineligible for parole, despite more than two decades in prison.
Ruiz claims this infringes his rights under the 8th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
In the lawsuit, Ruiz and his attorneys point to an alleged scientific rationale supporting the enhanced parole opportunities. The complaint notes that Harmon particularly pointed to purported "brain science" showing human brains don't fully mature until age 25, meaning offenders aged 16-25 years old should be treated differently than older offenders.
"... There is no judge on the planet who can look at a 19-year-old and say, I know for a fact that you’re the kind of young person who is going to mature and rehabilitate in prison or you’re the kind who is never going to get out of prison," Harmon said on the floor of the state Senate during debate on Public Act 100-1182. "That’s why we create this parole process, so that 10 years or 15 years down the road, we can have a second look at the offender and say whether or not it’s appropriate for them to be released."
While the alleged scientific findings don't differentiate between those sentenced before or after June 2019, the law does and only applies going forward.
Ruiz alleges this has unconstitutionally effectively created two different parole systems, depending on the date someone was convicted.
Ruiz claims that while he is no different than other similar offenders, he is subject to a different parole system with more limited parole opportunities than those convicted after June 2019.
Ruiz claims he is deserving of parole consideration. But because he has been denied a review out of hand, he says he is now subject to a longer than customary prison term than those granted parole. This, he is claiming, is a violation of his 8th Amendment rights protecting him from an unusually long prison term, which he said amounts to the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment
Ruiz is asking the court to declare Public Act 100-1182 should apply retroactively to all incarcerated people, regardless of their sentencing dates.
He is also seeking damages and expenses, including court costs and attorney fees.
Jonathan Bilyk contributed to this report.