Illinois legislator raises concerns about court order to close Stateville prison

[August 13, 2024]  By Catrina Petersen | The Center Square contributor

(The Center Square) – Illinois prison officials must transfer most people incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center to other Illinois prisons by Sept. 30, according to an order from a federal judge.

A state senator raised concerns about some of them being released by a parole board.

The case was originally filed in 2013. The original plaintiff, Lester Dobbey, was an inmate in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections in Stateville. He complained of unsanitary vermin in inmates' living units and common areas, unbearable fluorescent lighting preventing inmates from getting proper sleep and unsanitary living conditions.

Judge Andrea Wood wrote in her order to move inmates Friday there is a probable risk of “irreparable harm from falling concrete attributed to the deteriorated masonry walls, ceilings, steel beams, and window lintels at Stateville; and a lack of adequate remedy at law.”

“Rather than order the State or Department to complete extensive repairs needed to protect class members from the risk of irreparable harm posed by the deteriorated masonry at Stateville, the Court instead is requiring the Department to accomplish what it has publicly reported and recommended it would do—namely, moving forward with closing Stateville by transferring class members to other facilities,” Wood wrote.

Jennifer Vollen-Katz, executive director of the John Howard Association, said Stateville should be closed.

“Stateville is an unsafe, decrepit and inhume facility and it has been for a long time,” said Vollen-Katz.

The Illinois Department of Corrections didn’t oppose Friday’s order and said their anticipated timeline for transferring inmates is in line with the order.

“The Department previously indicated to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA) that it would not begin to wind down operations at Stateville Correctional Center until at least 180 days from filing its notice to CGFA,” said Naomi Puzzello, the IDOC's spokesman.

A screengrab of Google Street View for Stateville Correctional Center in Lockport, Illinois. Image Capture: Oct. 2022 ©Google 2024

State Sen. Don DeWitte, R-St.Charles, is a member of the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. He said it's “convenient” for the Pritzker administration and the Department of Corrections that the judge ruled to transfer the Stateville prisoners.

“Either just dumb luck or extremely convenient that the judge has taken the burden off the governor’s back,” DeWitte said Monday.

DeWitte questioned whether the plans to build new prisons will come to fruition considering the state’s prison vacancies. He said the state’s prisons are approximately only 30% occupied.

Some inmates may be cut loose prior to finishing their sentences, he said.

“I think it’s going to be very interesting to see how many inmates are relocated and how many of them are released based on a decision made by the parole board,” said DeWitte.

DeWitte called Pritzker's plan to demolish the Stateville and Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln “poorly planned.”

The Pritzker administration’s plans to demolish and rebuild Stateville and Logan could cost Illinois taxpayers more than $900 million.

Like the judge’s decision, DeWitte said it was convenient for the Pritzker administration and the IDOC that no one showed up for the final public hearing to take a vote on a recommendation for the closures.

"I do not believe for one minute it was an accident that the meeting was moved to Springfield at the last minute to make attendance by COGFA members difficult, many of them being residents of the metropolitan area of Chicago,” said Dewitte.

Considering labor union disapproval of the governor’s closure plans, DeWitte said he didn’t think Democrats on COGFA were willing to vote one way or another at the final COGFA hearing.

Vollen-Katz said the judge’s ruling is not necessarily related to the governor and the IDOC’s closure plans but said the same bottom line is being determined and that Stateville is not a safe place for human beings.