For weeks, two houses in Illinois Vienna Correctional Center ran on generator power and had intermittent failures. 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Months later, Stateville continues to see a steady flow of new cases but has not reported a COVID-19 fatality since mid-August, according to state data through Dec. 21. "Obviously this is training that we wish would have been done a year ago, but at least they're doing it now," she said. UPLC is tracking COVID-19 cases in IDOC. I could hear it in his voice, that he was close, said Susan Hertzberg, as quoted in a petition her lawyer filed with the state seeking early release. The bill provides reasonable timeframes and deadlines for the Prisoner Review Board to review cases involving medical incapacity or terminal illness, and to determine if those inmates with victim input would basically have a quality-of-life improvement if theyre moved out of prison, Connor said. Activists, inmates and family members discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Illinois jails and prisons, How Gov. According to the settlement, the Corrections Department will continue to identify and evaluate medically vulnerable prisoners for release even after the pandemic. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune). (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune). 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. A MONTHLY REPORT GIVING COUNSELOR CASELOADS AND TRANSFERS IS PUBLISHED. It was dropped near the main entrance of the prison near Joliet by Jennifer Lackey of Northwestern Universitys Prison Education Program. Cynthia McDonalds son, Joseph Wilson, 44, died of a COVID-19-related illness while hospitalized on April 13. Similar to what happened in the outside world, the pandemic seemed under control in Illinois prisons most of the summer. PNx SgXBN_]W*o!'13! ". March 23, 2021. Denice Bronis gets emotional while discussing her fears about her son's health at her home in East Dundee, Dec. 4, 2020. He tested positive for COVID-19 around Labor Day. Illinois will soon begin vaccinating prisoners against COVID-19. He mentored younger men and ran an inmates chapter of the Jaycees charity, as well as other prison programs. FILES FROM 1945 THROUGH 1969 HAVE EITHER BEEN MICROFILMED OR DESTROYED; NONE ARE AWAITING PROCESS. THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS MAINTAINS TWO COMPUTERIZED RECORD SYSTEMS. He said, Ill be with you. . Arkee Chaney shows a painting he made about a childhood memory of his father, at his home in Westchester on Dec. 4, 2020. They dont they didnt get that opportunity.. In the grievance, Tommy Ryburn, 61, said Bourbon had constant vomiting and diarrhea and was often too weak to get out of bed to take his medication or insulin shots. The board also makes recommendations for clemency petitions to the Governor. 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 Exoneration Project photo). This report has been corrected to indicate that the state Senate had already passed the amendment. He has come back to normal now since coming home with family, but remains thankful. "Illinois continues to lead the Nation in sensible criminal justice reform with Governor Pritzker's approval today of the Joel Coleman Act," said Craig Findley, Chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board (PRB). Also this month, for those prisons where infections are soaring, both workers and inmates are being tested every three days until no new cases are identified for two weeks. The releases are set to resume soon. All 50 were men. Whilst staff at veterans' homes, nursing homes, hospitals and sundry health care facilities balk at getting vaccinated let-me-think-about-it rates for doctors, nurses and other frontline health care workers are as high as 40 percent nationwide the state of Illinois has decided that while doses remain scarce, prisoners and the homeless who reside in shelters or frequent day centers are on par with the elderly (75 or older) and "frontline essential workers" who will be second in line after health care workers. It brought our whole agency together and made us laser-focused to carry out our objectives as we combat this virus.. Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register via AP file. 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. IDOC officials said that when the virus is spreading in communities, staff may contract it at home and bring it into prisons. As the new COVID-19 surge continues racing through Illinois prisons, with a disturbing rise in inmate deaths in November plus the states first staff fatality, corrections officials said they will start to test all prison employees for the virus regardless of whether the workers have symptoms. Help me. That plea, as a mother, is rough to hear.. Indiana The proposed constitutional amendment passed 80 to 30. Five days later, a 65-year-old sex offender from Rockford, Larry Bourbon, succumbed to the virus in his prison bunk. Groups that track national virus data for state and federal prisons, such as the COVID Prison Project and The Marshall Project, place Illinois about average on lists comparing infections based on inmate populations, but Illinois has one of the higher death tolls. An amended lawsuit filed against Rob Jeffreys, director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, and Gov. %PDF-1.3 HB 3665 not only provides better, more compassionate care to Illinois' seriously ill population, but helps improve the overall prison healthcare system. 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, please take a moment to fill out this survey. 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. (Family photo). 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. "I am proud that Illinois is leading with compassion and bringing a restorative justice lens to criminal justice policy making. As of Monday, more than 10,800 state inmates and 4,200 staff members had tested positive for the virus, according to IDOC statistics posted online. More than 1,000 medically vulnerable or elderly inmates in Illinois prisons are set to be released following a settlement agreement in a lawsuit brought last spring against the head of the Illinois Department of Corrections and Gov. Like other Chicagoans, we have ideas about what the next mayor should do. State Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, pointed to states that have right-to-work laws, saying theyre one of the most diabolical ways to limit collective bargaining and limiting bargainingis a losing proposition for all workers, Yednock said. Watson Gray, 73, died of complications related to COVID-19 on Nov. 6, 2020, at Dixon Correctional Center. 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. It was tough., Down to Business: Helping children learn to communicate empowers whole family, speech-language pathologist says, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Todays guest is Alan Mills, the Executive Director of the Uptown Peoples Law Center in Chicago. WebThe Illinois Department of Corrections is a multicultural agency deeply committed to ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion. Prisons in Illinois, nationally face staff shortages as correction officers quit amid COVID. Newsletter, Paddock Publications, Inc. is an Employee-Owned Company. The House took up a constitutional amendment to the states Bill of Rights that says Illinois workers shall have the fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions.. 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.. Gov. The state crime rate actually declined while early release was operating. About 1,000 Illinois prison inmates nearing the end of their sentences could soon be released under a settlement announced Tuesday in a federal lawsuit filed as the COVID-19 pandemic was creating a health crisis in state lockups. The union instead proposed that it will continue to educate staff, in the hope that more staff will agree to vaccinate voluntarily. Sedelmaier died March 29 at age 59. To donate to our work fighting the spread of coronavirus in Illinois' prisons. That is the highest figure ever. "By signing the Joe Coleman Medical Release Act into law, it's my intention to honor Joe Coleman's legacy as a father, as a veteran, as a man who spent his days raising funds for charity from behind bars," said Governor JB Pritzker. ), Gov. UPLC is tracking COVID-19 cases in IDOC. That means prison medical copays must go. They ranged in age from 35 to 80, with a median age of 62. Early release from prison is sometimes ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. 3 0 obj by Wendy Sawyer , January 11, 2022 The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has released a lot of new data over the past few weeks that help us finally see both The couple, who had not seen each other since being imprisoned, were allowed a final phone call before he died. HISTORICAL FILES ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO USE FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES. The House-passed bill, HR 5682, establishes a new program of time credits (sec. J.B. Pritzkers decision to release inmates as the spread of COVID-19 continues in the states prisons, including questions about transparency. He tested positive for COVID-19 around Labor Day. COVID-19 cases are ticking back upward across Chicago and the rest of Illinois even as vaccine supply improves, the top doctors from the city and state warned Tuesday. Members of End Illinois Prison Lockdown Coalition rally as they call out Gov. Fatalities have been reported in nearly 20 IDOC facilities, with Dixon one of the latest hot spots. In emailed responses to Tribune questions, Ryburn said he was not tested after Bourbon died but he did not get sick. This is another step toward the world, the Illinois, our families deserve. Like other Chicagoans, we have ideas about what the next mayor should do. State officials say symptomatic inmates are tested and isolated and those with the most serious cases are transferred to hospitals. To hear.. Indiana the proposed constitutional amendment passed 80 to 30 GIVING COUNSELOR CASELOADS and TRANSFERS is.... Quit amid COVID back to normal now since coming home with family, but remains thankful while early release prison! 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