From someone who lives there "Leave Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln"

To the editor:

Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability:

Hello! My name is Tammy Eveans, and I am an inmate at Logan Correctional Center here in Lincoln, Illinois. I have been incarcerated for 35 years and so I write this letter as a representative of the Logan Correctional Center inmate population that is opposed to its closure and relocation. While there is no doubt as to the need for infrastructure repair and/or rebuilding, the complete closure of this facility is not warranted. The original announcement of the closures of Stateville Correctional and Logan Correctional Centers by Governor J.B. Pritzker takes me back to 2009-2010 when then Governor Pat Quinn announced the closure of Dwight Correctional Center in Dwight, Illinois. What do both of these closure announcements have in common? I suggest it to be a politically motivated tool to bolster or garner more party votes for each of the respective Governors. Given that even the Bible declares that “there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9), I find we are once again at a crossroads of what is actually best for Illinoisans and what seems politically beneficial to those who govern this state.

Let me give you some facts to substantiate my position. First, I speak for all the females at Logan who are from the central and southern regions of Illinois, as well as speaking for the families and loved ones they in turn represent. Logan Correction Center is comprised of 66.1 percent of the population from central and southern regions/counties, while only a minority of 33.9 percent of the inmate population is from that of the northern regions of Cook county and surrounding collar-counties. Now the mathematics on this is pretty simple and clear cut. Logan, which resides in central Illinois, serves over half of all the female inmates population for the entire state. Yet Governor Pritzker wants to close Logan, relocate it three to three and a half hours north to Crest Hill, Illinois only and truthfully because Logan is located in a “RED” county and Crest Hill is located in a “BLUE” county. We all know what these two colors represent so there is no need to elaborate there. This proposed move is sheer, raw, brass-knuckled politics, and it is the honest, hard-working, faithful, community-oriented people who will be the ones who suffer in this proposed action by our Governor.

When Dwight Correction Center was being proposed for closure, the entire town community of Dwight and the surround communities and or towns all banded together to “SAVE” their livelihoods and home-lives from being decimated should Dwight’s closure go through. Their cries, pleas, and fight all fell on deaf ears. To this very day, the town of Dwight, Illinois is forgotten and barren, where once it was blossoming and thriving in every area. The good and up-standing citizens of Dwight and its respective geographical area, who faithfully elected their governmental representatives, were abandoned and discarded by those same elected officials chosen to represent them and their interest. Here we all stand, in Lincoln, Illinois, in the very same shoes that those of Dwight, Illinois stood in nearly 14-15 years ago. I reiterate…”there is nothing new under the sun..”

Lincoln! Just that name holds value, let alone its land. Adjacent to Logan Correctional Center sits 100-plus acres of land for the possible location of a rebuild. Everything that Governor Pritzker said and says that is available in Crest Hill, Illinois for the female incarcerated population is likewise available right here in Lincoln and central Illinois. Springfield’s greatest hospitals and medical services, which are utilized and optimized will continue to be so. Logan Correctional Center has an amazing array of staff, both in security and lay staff, as well as awesome and dedicated volunteers who devote time, energy, and finances into advancing the potential of Logan’s female population. There is no reason whatsoever to move Logan and relocate it so far north other than to accommodate a “BLUE” platform for this is an election year. We all know wholeheartedly how politicians make moves and give promises during election years, and then all too quickly forget those promises once in office or once again in office. The only person or persons to benefit from this relocation of Logan is Governor Pritzker and the Democratic Party and its platform. Of course this includes Crest Hill for it is “BLUE” after all – go figure!

If Governor Pritzker wants a new prison built in Crest Hill, Illinois, fine – build it and house the northern regional female inmate population there, to their benefit. But leave Logan Correctional Center where it is, thus serving the central and southern regions of Illinoi in Lincoln, Illinois. As a member of the inmate population who is from central/southern Illinois, I use my voice for our families and loved ones to have their opportunities of interest safeguarding by keeping Logan open and rebuilding here. Our families and loved ones are also hard-working dedicated, faithful, tax-paying citizens of this region of our state. They deserve sincere consideration and to have their voices heard, which is why I am writing this now. As inmates convicted for our crimes, we now serve out our retributions here at Logan and we realize FULLY that our personal interest has no voices. But our voices – my voice – will speak forth for my family and loved ones because the proposed closure and relocation will heap a mountain of hardships upon them, as it will so very many others like myself. Our families and loved ones have committed no crimes and all they want is to stay connected to us because they love us.

My community of peers are the majority, from central and southern Illinois, and we want to remain here. As I stated previously, if Pritzker wants to build another prison up north, by all means go for it! (And by all means, I say the one billion dollars it will cost all taxpayers of Illinois.) But leave Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, Illinois, and thus give Lincoln and its people the opportunity to continue to represent its great name and land, year after year after year! They deserve it, have earned it, proven it, and present it well. Our families and loved ones implore likewise, and so do the majority of women from Logan Correction Center, even a large populous who are actually from northern Illinois. I certainly do! Thank you!

Heralding Right Action,
Tammy Eveans
ID# B07539
Logan Correctional Center

[Posted June 13, 2024]