IL Department of Corrections quiet after lawmakers address drug-infused mail

[November 21, 2024]  By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributor

(The Center Square) – Illinois correctional officers have reported overdose symptoms after handling inmates' mail, and now Republicans are calling to suspend or electronically scan incoming mail for inmates.

In a letter, Democrats urge the Illinois Department of Corrections to allow inmates to continue to receive their original physical mail.

At a news conference Wednesday, state Rep. Charles Meier, R-Okawville, said the acting IDOC Director Latoya Hughes at the very least owes Illinoisans a hearing where she can listen to problems officers face.

"Everyone should agree that if there’s a threat to the inmates and the employees we need to quickly get to a solution,” said Meier. “The Department of Corrections has given us a seven-month timeline for a pilot program for the electronic-mail system. This is too long. We don’t have seven months. In that timeframe, how many more people will get sick or possibly die as this situation spirals into a prison epidemic?”

Restore Justice Outreach Director Julie Anderson said the organization is opposed to any legislative action that would temporarily or permanently suspend the process and delivery of physical mail.

"In other states, rates of overdoses and drug use increased following the replacement of physical mail with mail scanning. There’s no evidence that suspending the delivery of physical mail to people who are incarcerated will make anyone safer,” said Anderson. “The mail is a lifeline for people who are incarcerated, keeping them connected to their loved ones and their support system on the outside.”

Anderson said while her son was incarcerated for 28 years, she wasn’t able to bake for him or buy him a present but she was able to mail him a birthday card.

State Rep. David Friess, R-Red Bud, is suggesting inmates’ physical mail be scanned electronically amid reports that the mail has been infused with contraband substances like cannabis, fentanyl and even bug spray.

Friess said other states have implemented a scanning process.

"I understand you have to have that connection with the outside, and we don’t want people who are incarcerated to not have that connection. But their point: ‘I don’t have that connection unless I physically touch that piece of paper,’ I don’t buy [it],” said Friess.

Friess couldn’t put a taxpayer price on scanning all incoming mail for inmates to view on an electronic tablet.

“What does it cost when you have to allocate additional manpower to take somebody to the hospital? What does it cost the IDOC, the local hospital? Right now, if you want to keep the physical mail out of the hands of an inmate, all you have to do is buy a copy machine until we can get the scanning system set up,” Friess said.

John Howard Association Executive Director Jennifer Vollen-Katz said understanding where the contraband is coming from and what kind of contraband is getting into the prison is the first step. Vollen-Katz called the banning of physical mail a “knee-jerk reaction.”

"Mail is one of the ways contraband comes in but it’s not the only one,” said Vollen-Katz. “It could be staff, it could be through vendors who work on contracts with IDOC, it could be visitors. There’s a lot of different ways contraband could get into prisons. Understanding what’s getting in and how is really critical information to solving the problem.”

Vollen-Katz suggested the acting director participate in a hearing because hearings can generate ideas and approaches to solving problems.

“That increases transparency, which better allows us to better hold the government accountable,” said Vollen-Katz. “The pilot program is premature, we want the data first before we start throwing negatively-impactful solutions at a problem we should better understand the problem.”

The Center Square unsuccessfully attempted to obtain comment from the IDOC.

Earlier this fall, a Cook County corrections deputy, Shadonna Jones, was charged with trying to smuggle drug-soaked paper in Cook County Jail. At least two men have reportedly died from an overdose linked to synthetic cannabinoids and opioids soaked on paper that they smoked in the Cook County Jail.

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