Journalist Hanke Gratteau to Head Prison Reform Group

CHICAGO--(Business Wire)--
Award-winning journalist Hanke Gratteau has been named executive director of The
John Howard Association of Illinois (JHA) , the leading advocate for prison
reform in the Midwest. She joins John Howard on April 6.

Gratteau will oversee projects and research aimed at monitoring and improving
conditions in the state`s prisons, jails and juvenile detention facilities. She
is the seventh person to head the Association since it was founded in 1901.

"My role with The John Howard Association will be a very natural extension of
the public policy advocacy that was at the heart of my journalism career," said
Gratteau, former managing editor/news of the Chicago Tribune. "We will aim to
shine a bright light on places and issues that are hidden from public view and
provide a strong and clear voice for sound public policy grounded in research.

"I am honored to join an organization with such a distinguished history, and I
look forward to working alongside such a talented and dedicated staff," she
said.

Arthur Don, JHA Board Chairman, said, "We are excited to have Hanke lead our
Association. She has a wealth of management experience, a long record of
effective public advocacy and a passion for our mission."

During a journalism career spanning three decades, Gratteau rose from an
assistant to columnist Mike Royko to a masthead position on the Midwest`s most
influential publication. She worked as an investigative reporter, columnist and
editor and produced award-winning journalism that left lasting legacies and
reforms. Her coverage of issues regarding the mentally ill, prisoners and
children in state custody won numerous local and state awards. Gratteau also
directed reporting projects that exposed prosecutorial misconduct, wrongful
convictions, dangerous conditions in prisons and jails and flaws in the criminal
justice and death penalty systems in Illinois.

In 2001, she was among a team of Chicago Tribune editors and reporters awarded
the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism for "Gateway to Gridlock," a
series that examined problems in the nation`s troubled air traffic system.

Her work with JHA comes as more than 2 million adults are incarcerated across
the nation, with 45,000 inmates in Illinois state institutions and another 9,000
in Cook County Jail.

"We look forward to working with Hanke to expand the scope of the Association`s
activities, including increased monitoring and public education," said Mr. Don,
a partner in the Chicago law office of Seyfarth Shaw.

Gratteau currently serves on Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn`s Illinois Reform
Commission, a panel charged with proposing reform to address political
corruption. The commission, chaired by former federal prosecutor Patrick
Collins, is composed of civic and business leaders from across the state
including Cook County State`s Attorney Anita Alvarez, Southern Illinois
University law professor Sheila Simon and DePaul University President Rev.
Dennis Holtschneider. The commission is expected to issue its final report to
the governor in early May.

The John Howard Association of Illinois is a private, not-for-profit
organization based in Chicago. Support comes from foundations, trusts and
individual contributors concerned with the humane treatment of incarcerated
persons and the judicious and effective use of public revenue. The Association`s
mission is to promote fair, humane and effective sentencing and correctional
policies.

For more information on the Association`s projects and research, go to
http://www.john-howard.org.

For John Howard Association of Illinois
Marge Ferroli, 708-524-5264

Copyright Business Wire 2009