We Can Do More to Protect Individuals, Workers, and Communities In and Around Illinois Prisons

Criminal Justice ,

Illinois must ensure that the rights and wellbeing of individuals living and working in prisons and the surrounding communities are protected. While Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) have taken some essential steps toward decarceration and transparency in detention facilitates in the wake of COVID-19, more must be done.

The IDOC website features a case count, but no data on COVID-19 testing, deaths, or hospitalizations in facilities has been shared. This is particularly troublesome because prisons and jails are congregate settings, similar to long-term care facilities, where the virus can spread quickly and dangerously—such as in one Ohio Jail where 70% of the incarcerated individuals have tested positive for the virus.

Any lack of transparency that masks the extent of the virus’s spread in Illinois prisons and jails restricts the flow of critical information to loved ones, lawyers, and policy makers. In a context where more than 30 federal inmates have died from COVID-19, any action or inaction that helps prevent correctional facilities from being held accountable—such as a lack of data transparency—can only serve to increase the already dire risks COVID-19 infection poses to individuals living in Illinois’ prisons.

Several facilities, including Hill Correctional Center and Menard Correctional Center, have reported low, unchanging numbers of cases over a period of several weeks. Daily reports coming out of these facilities, however, note that social-distancing and hygiene protocols are not being consistently followed. The two pieces of information make it unlikely that the numbers are actually low or unchanging.

Transparent data and open communication will help us know the truth. In an open letter to Governor Pritzker, Restore Justice asks that the IDOC and county jails publicly report data on COVID-19 testing, hospitalizations, and deaths. Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers fully support these recommendations.

For more information on this important and time sensitive issue, please see Recommendations: COVID-19 and Prison Communities from Restore Justice and the Illinois Prison Project.

Ryan Puszka is Chicago Appleseed’s Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Fellow, working on projects concerning accessible justice, and is a third-year law student at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.