People Ex Rel. Johnson v. Pate

This is an original petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The petitioner is a prisoner in the Illinois State Penitentiary. The indictment upon which he was convicted charged that on October 1, 1951, he unlawfully sold narcotics. On March 27, 1952, he was adjudged guilty and sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of not less than 5 nor more than 15 years.

The Department of Public Safety is authorized by statute “to prescribe reasonable rules and regulations for the diminution of sentences on account of good conduct, of persons heretofore and hereafter convicted of crime, * * (Ill. Rev. Stat.…