Prisons and Jails Project
In addition to general monitoring activities at all state prisons and other facilities, the Prisons and Jails Program is currently responsible for court monitoring of three major federal class-action civil-rights lawsuits affecting Illinois correctional agencies. Summaries of the issues in these cases is provided below.
Duran v. Sheahan et al. concerns crowding and conditions of confinement at the Cook County Department of Corrections (CCDOC). JHA staff, Board members, and volunteers regularly inspect all segments of the jail, the Cook County Department of Community Supervision & Intervention (home to Electronic Monitoring, Day Reporting, and other diversionary programs), and the Cook County Boot Camp. Filed in 1974 with a Consent Decree entered in 1982, issues in this case include sanitation and maintenance, food services, staffing, discipline and grievances, access to law libraries, visitation, and other issues. This suit has resulted in many changes in detention practices, staffing, and other issues at the jail, the development of model diversion programs, and other effects on the criminal justice system in Cook County. JHA has submitted more than 20 major reports to a series of federal judges in this case.
Doe v. Cook County concerns conditions of confinement for youth incarcerated at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. Filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in 1999, the suit was partially prompted by a comprehensive report by JHA and the National Juvenile Detention Association in 1998. JHA consultants, staff, and volunteers have conducted regular inspections for several years, supplementing the work of PJP Director Charles A. Fasano, who has served as one of the court-appointed monitors in this litigation. Issues in this case include training and supervision of staff, medical and mental health services, discipline and grievances, and handling allegations of abuse by staff and others. In August 2007, a Transition Administrator has been appointed to continue and expand upon the work of the monitors and Compliance Administrator, who have been reporting on conditions and recommending changes for the past several years.
For updates on the Doe Litigation, click here.
King v. Walker et al. established the right of Illinois parolees (persons serving terms of Mandatory Supervised Release[1]) charged with new crimes to a preliminary parole revocation hearing by the Prisoner Review Board. Filed in 2006, JHA staff have observed these hearings at CCDOC and the Illinois Department of Corrections’ Northern Reception Center and worked with staff at all three agencies to ensure compliance with the Consent Decree in this case.
[1] Illinois abolished discretionary parole in 1978. However, prisoners who have completed their sentences must be released, but are subject to a period of supervision, which is technically called Mandatory Supervised Release or MSR. Prisoners who are on MSR are referred to as “parolees.”
|
|