(Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune). UPLC is tracking COVID-19 cases in IDOC. Between March 2020 and March 2021, 2,472 inmates have left IDOC custodywith an earned discretionary sentencing credit, according to spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. Chicago Tribunes Annie Sweeney contributed. Todays guest is Alan Mills, the Executive Director of the Uptown Peoples Law Center in Chicago. Press Release - Tuesday, February 21, 2023 A 13th Stateville inmate died in August. Im open to all things that are positive, he said. There was so much information that was coming and we had to figure it out for ourselves because there was just no guidance for correctional settings as it relates to this outbreak, he said. The lawsuit was one of two filed in the early days of the pandemic alleging that Gov. AT FINAL DISCHARGE, THE ADULT PAROLE SERVICES FILES ARE SENT BACK TO THE INSTITUTION WHERE THEY ARE STORED AND EVENTUALLY MICROFILMED. Hertzberg has 13 months left on her sentence for marijuana trafficking. He mentored younger men and ran an inmates chapter of the Jaycees charity, as well as other prison programs. Prisons in Illinois, nationally face staff shortages as correction officers quit amid COVID. Isolated in solitary confinement as the pandemic swept through Illinois prisons, inmates diagnosed with mental illness are beyond the breaking point, setting fire to their cells and harming themselves after more than a year without adequate mental health care. Speaking to the Senate panel on Friday, Jeffreys said strategies developed for the Stateville outbreak, such as deep cleaning, temperature checks, contact tracing and masking staff and inmates, have been duplicated systemwide. This can include circumstances where an individual may be non-ambulatory due to a spinal injury. To donate to our work fighting the spread of coronavirus in Illinois' prisons, click here. The couple, who had not seen each other since being imprisoned, were allowed a final phone call before he died. The lawsuit argued that keeping medically vulnerable prisoners who are at risk of contracting COVID-19 confined in close proximity to one another violated their constitutional rights, including the right protecting individuals from cruel and unusual punishment. Activists, inmates and family members discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Illinois jails and prisons, How Gov. People are dying and theres no urgency assigned to anything, Ryan said. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Mason, 76, said a feeling of lightness overtook him when a correctional officer stopped by his cell to tell him he was going home. At a Georgia state House of Representatives hearing on prison conditions in September, a corrections officer called in to testify, interrupting his shift to tell lawmakers how dire conditions had become. Recently, Governor Pritzker announced that all staff working in Illinois prisons will have to be vaccinated for COVID-19 by mid-October. WebThe Illinois Department of Corrections is a multicultural agency deeply committed to ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion. More than 1,000 Illinois prisoners to be released under COVID-19 lawsuit settlement, Coronavirus live blog, March 23, 2021: COVID-19 cases ticking back up across Chicago, More Than 1,000 Medically Vulnerable IDOC Inmates to be Released Under Lawsuit Settlement. Like other Chicagoans, we have ideas about what the next mayor should do. Cynthia McDonalds son, Joseph Wilson, 44, died of a COVID-19-related illness while hospitalized on April 13. A MONTHLY REPORT GIVING COUNSELOR CASELOADS AND TRANSFERS IS PUBLISHED. If you are in contact with a friend, family member, or other loved one who is currently in IDOC custody and believe that your loved one would be comfortable with you sharing their information with us. (April 17) In Illinois, the governor signed an executive order that eases the J.B. Pritzker. Denice Bronis said her son, Matthew Echevarria, tested positive around Labor Day at Menard Correctional Center. But a coalition of advocacy groups that sued the state over the issue said the IDOC should free thousands more who are either old, infirm, nonviolent or near the end of their sentences. This is another step toward the world, the Illinois, our families deserve. The lawsuit filed in April 2020 alleged prison settings pose a particular risk of spreading COVID-19, with catastrophic consequences not just to the prisoners and staff, but also to their communities and the hospitals that serve them., Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum security state prison for men in Crest Hill, on March 30, 2020. The Illinois Department of Corrections agreed to use its best efforts to process the awards within the next month. THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS MAINTAINS TWO COMPUTERIZED RECORD SYSTEMS. Governor Juliana Stratton. The increased testing in recent weeks helped drive the most recent jump in positive case numbers, Jeffreys said. To provide dignity for all Illinois residents in their final days, HB 3665 allows for the discretionary early release of those who are medically incapacitated or terminally ill and serving time in an Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) facility. Gray had lived behind bars for more than 40 years, serving a life sentence for hiring a relative to kill his business partner in 1978. In letters and interviews, men inside the facility describe conditions they say are continuing to drive infections at the Illinois prison hardest hit by coronavirus. Im tending to believe they did nothing but left him on the floor, she said, because he went straight from his cell to a hospital.. Also, early release substantially accelerated the amount of crime suffered by the public, but contributed to less than 1 percent of all crimes reported in Illinois. In an effort to address the COVID-19 pandemic inside the states prisons, CDCR implemented emergency measures to protect all those who live and work in our state prisons, and the community at-large. So far, three incarcerated men in Illinois two who had been housed at Stateville prison in Crest Hill and a detainee at the Cook County Jail have died from complications related to the coronavirus. Legislators designed the She said her retired parents were struggling financially when they committed the crime. She said that while the number of prisoners who will be released was significant, there are thousands more who have a legal mechanism to seek release and should get it. Sadly, rather than engaging with the governor, AFSCME, the guards' union, immediately announced that it was opposed to any requirement that staff be vaccinated. Pritzker's executive order gives the Illinois Department of Corrections permission to allow "medically vulnerable" inmates out of prison temporarily. A stress fracture in his shin. Bronis' son, Matthew Echevarria, is incarcerated at Menard Correctional Center. More than 4,000 jail detainees have entered state prisons since then. Click here to sign up for the Roger Hertzberg, 76, died Sept. 24, 2020, at Robinson Correctional Center of COVID-19 complications while undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. The release of inmates requires a process that gives close attention to detail, for the safety of each inmate, his or her family, and the community at large demands a sensible and individualized release plan especially during a pandemic, Dow wrote. The man was imprisoned at Stateville Correctional Center, where officials say there are now 12 men who are hospitalized, "including several requiring ventilators.". WebThe First Step Act made important changes to how federal compassionate release works. The Las Vegas woman and her husband, Roger, were nabbed in Illinois with nearly 50 pounds of pot on their way to Pittsburgh in 2012. The tragedy is the number of people who have become sick and died. Mason was freed from Pontiac Correctional Center on Nov. 25 by Gov. While this legislation is applicable to all who are currently incarcerated in Illinois, crime victims have the right to submit a victim statement to the PRB for consideration at a medical release hearing. In nearly two dozen of the cases, Pritzker granted freedom to men serving natural life sentences for armed robbery under the states habitual criminal law, which after a third offense triggers the mandatory sentence even if no one was physically harmed. They ranged in age from 35 to 80, with a median age of 62. Dr. Stewart's video is addressed specifically to members of the Rasho class-action suit and their loved ones. They dont they didnt get that opportunity.. ICJIAs Research Hub is funded through a grant from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Heres some of whats on our to-do list. stream 3 0 obj He said the department has responded aggressively to a challenging public health crisis that has yet to yield. IDOC has about 1,000 unfilled, budgeted positions, according to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31. In response, the states lawyers said pilot programs were underway, but broadening testing at dozens of facilities was no easy charge and more time was needed to evaluate effectiveness. As efforts continue to slow the spread of COVID-19 at Cook County Jail by reducing the inmate population, Gov. Echevarria was a Chicago high school student when police arrested him in a 1999 fatal shooting he insists he did not commit. Indiana The testing is expected to be in place systemwide by late January. J.B. Pritzkers decision to release inmates as the spread of COVID-19 continues in the states prisons, including questions about transparency. WebUNDER THE LAW EFFECTING THIS CHANGE, PRISON TERMS ARE ESTABLISHED FOR SERIOUS OFFENSES AND FOR SUPERVISED RELEASE TERMS, AND Our lives matter, Ehlers said in an email. "The Joe Coleman Medical Release Act will make sure that doesn't happen to an inmate in Illinois anymore.". He called his crimes stupid mistakes.. Im sure that those victims would love to have two to three more years with their families, except for the fact that theyre all dead, McClure said. Many inmates, relatives and recently freed men interviewed by the Tribune agreed that access to masks and cleaning supplies has improved since earlier this year, when there was a national shortage. On January 13th, state legislators approved a colossal 764-page police and criminal justice reform bill that includes major changes, such as ending the practice of cash bail and money bonds, requiring all officers across Illinois to wear body cameras, and easing restrictions placed on those convicted of lesser charges. "I watched helplessly as my father died a lonely death behind bars," said Joe Coleman, Jr. "I thank the Governor and the General Assembly for ensuring no other family has to experience that despair, and for doing so in the honor of my father. As a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic spread rapidly through Illinois prisons this fall, 73-year-old Watson Gray made another plea to be released from Dixon Correctional Center, where new infections were rising. The couples daughter, Julie Rittenbaugh, thinks her father caught the virus while receiving chemotherapy for cancer in the prisons medical unit. "Too many seriously ill people in prisons are getting substandard medical care at exorbitant cost to the state," said State Representative Will Guzzardi (D- Chicago). The amendment would also ensure the right to bargain will not be diminished by any future law, proponents said. Matthew Echevarria's photos are displayed at his mother's home in East Dundee on Dec. 4, 2020. In his 48-page opinion last year, Dow acknowledged the seriousness of the situation but said that Pritzker and other stakeholders had taken steps at that point to contain the spread of the virus that plainly pass constitutional muster, even if it was not exactly what the plaintiffs were seeking. Their complaints echo a survey conducted in April and early May by the John Howard Association, a prison watchdog group. In addition to providing personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies, the department long ago halted in-person visits, imposed a staff mask mandate and restricted prisoners to their cells with few exceptions, such as showering. On April 22, 2020, Chicago area civil rights groups came together to write a letter of support for the actions of Illinois Governor Pritzker. According to the settlement, the Corrections Department will continue to identify and evaluate medically vulnerable prisoners for release even after the pandemic. INFORMATION ON WHERE TO OBTAIN DATA ON ILLINOIS INMATES PAROLED FROM THE FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM IS PROVIDED. The outages made it harder to use the shared bathroom, one of the few places they could wash their hands. We must act quickly. Since March, the governor has pardoned or commuted the sentences of about 100 men and women convicted of crimes, the oldest dating back to 1978, that range from murder to cannabis possession. The pandemic hit Illinois prison system hard last spring, with cases mushrooming and fatalities reported at more than a dozen facilities before cases leveled off late in the year. A consortium of Chicago civil rights attorneys and community activists who filed the suit initially sought the release of as many as 13,000 at-risk prisoners due to the virus. This commitment is at the forefront of our operations, hiring, policies and procedures, and training. Fatalities have been reported in nearly 20 IDOC facilities, with Dixon one of the latest hot spots. Official websites use .gov She said prison officials did not notify her or Wilsons wife that he was hospitalized until the family made repeated phone calls. A broken ankle. A federal judge Friday blocked a bid by state prisoners for an accelerated release or transfer amid the coronavirus, finding state officials current processes dont violate their constitutional rights. WebIllinois The recidivism rate in Illinois within one year of release is 17% and within three years of release is 43%. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune). The one prison worker known to have died of the disease was Linda Savage, a 64-year-old nurse at Vienna Correctional Center. In cases of medical incapacity, individuals may not be terminally ill, but in a state that renders them no longer a threat to the community. The most recent numbers provided by IDOC show that 87 prisoners and one staff member have died of COVID-19-related causes since the beginning of the pandemic. Lets walk through 4 main ways to get early release from prison, under the First Step Act, for an inmate to obtain early release or additional community custody "Thanks to the many advocates and General Assembly sponsors Senator John Connor and Representative Will Guzzardi, more families will get to say goodbye to their loved ones the way we all hope to get to when the time comes: together. WebMarch 2022 Illinois provides compassionate release to eligible incarcerated individuals with a medical professional who has treated or diagnosed the person; or (5) a prison official.8. He had three disciplinary tickets in four decades for minor infractions, said his lawyer, Soble. People in Prison in Winter 2021-22 Vera Institute of Justice, February, 2022 All states and the federal prison system reduced their prison populations in 2020, but 19 states and the federal government increased the number of people incarcerated in prisons in 2021. COVID looks like it may stay. Like other Chicagoans, we have ideas about what the next mayor should do. In cases of medical The standoff between Chicago police and Mayor Lori Lightfoot over the citys COVID-19 vaccine mandate once again hoisted Chicago onto the national stage, seemingly pitting the individual rights of law enforcement officers against the health of communities theyre charged with protecting. Echevarria is incarcerated at Menard Correctional Center. On April 22, 2020, Chicago area civil rights groups came together to write a letter of support for the actions of Illinois Governor Pritzker. Officials knew two weeks ago just what kind of crisis loomed outside the front doors of the sprawling Cook County Jail. State Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, and then future state Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, on the Senate floor last year. Read more here! Before the committee voted, state Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford said the House bill as well as the one shes sponsoring on behalf of Mayor Lori Lightfoot still needs work. Others are still hoping to be released. We urge officials to promptly release detainees who can be released safely. (Family photo). Jeffreys said Friday that with the anticipated vaccinations and mitigation strategies, he hopes to put a stop to this virus inside our facilities by late January. A representative of the Illinois Department of Corrections did not respond to a request for comment about the settlement. The legislation was named after Joe Coleman, a father, decorated veteran, and active member in his community who had terminal cancer. Photos: Northwestern loses to Penn State 68-65 in overtime, Nick Niego is back as Brother Rice stuns St. Rita. ) in Illinois, our families deserve the outages made it harder to use the shared bathroom one... 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