Illinois prisons held in contempt for failing to improve health care for people in custody

[August 12, 2022]  By Kevin Bessler | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – A federal judge is holding the Illinois Department of Corrections in contempt of court for failing to improve health care for inmates.

Inmates sued IDOC in 2010 for poor health care, alleging thousands of prisoners were in needless pain.

In 2019, a judge ordered IDOC to make a comprehensive plan on how the agency will provide more health care services. Now three years later, a federal court monitor says it hasn’t happened.

“There is a wide gap between what IDOC believes it has accomplished and the findings of the monitor,” the report reads.

One area highlighted was cancer, the leading cause of death for Illinois prisoners. The monitor found all cancer cases that ended in death were diagnosed late-stage.

Another area of concern is dentistry. The monitor found in December 2021, 11 prisons did not employ any oral hygienists, leaving no one to perform basic dental cleanings.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker blames a lack of personnel statewide.
 

“In order to implement a plan, you need enough health-care professionals, and that is one of the challenges we are discussing with the other side,” Pritzker said.

But Camille Bennett, ACLU of Illinois director of Corrections Reform Project, said the state knew they needed more personnel back in 2019.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker
Courtesy of BlueRoomStream

“They should have started posting those positions and trying to hire them back then, and the monitor was just begging them to do that and they didn’t do it,” Bennett said.

The court monitor also reported that IDOC failed to provide over 80% of the information that was requested.

IDOC is the third state agency to be held in contempt of court. The director of the Department of Children and Family Services has also been held in contempt of court 12 times for improper placement of children. The Illinois Department of Human Services was found in contempt for not transferring jail inmates deemed unfit for trial for state evaluation.

“This latest incident begs the question of how many times and how many agencies will it take before the Governor accepts responsibility for these failures and finally takes action to do the right thing for the people hurt under his inaction and failed leadership,” state Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, said in a statement.

Bennett is hopeful the contempt of court ruling will provoke action by the state.

“They were supposed to have this plan three years ago and they still don’t have it today and it is just way overdue, so we’re really hoping that this finding of contempt will wake them up,” Bennett said.

Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.