POSTED: Friday, Jun. 17, 2011
Top Illinois Court says state may not seize inmate's prison wages
By AMEET SACHDEV - Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO-The Illinois Department of Corrections' attempt to seize a prisoner's wages was rejected Thursday by the state Supreme Court.
In a unanimous opinion, the seven justices ruled that the department was wrong to go after all of Kensley Hawkins' earnings after it already had deducted 3 percent of his wages to apply to the costs of his incarceration.
The department sued Hawkins in 2005 under a state law that allows it to collect room and board from prisoners. The prison system said Hawkins owed $455,000 from July 1, 1983, a few months after he entered Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, to March 17, 2005, when the agency went to court.
The only asset Hawkins had was a bank account with about $11,000 that he had saved while working in the prison wood shop. The work paid about $2 a day. Hawkins, who was sentenced to 60 years for murder, attempted murder and burglary, is eligible for parole in 2028.
His attorneys argued that the department could not touch his savings. They referred to the law that specifically allows the 3 percent deduction, saying that precludes the state from claiming more. The Department of Corrections said a different law, one that holds inmates liable for the cost of their incarceration, allows it to go after any assets, including prison wages.
Justice Rita Garman, who wrote the opinion, said the department misinterpreted the statutes to "produce a result that is absurd, unjust and that our analysis indicates was not contemplated by the legislature."
The court also vacated the $455,000 judgment against Hawkins and said the department should not try to confiscate an inmate's assets if they consist only of wages earned in prison.
Justice Lloyd Karmeier, in a concurring opinion, also noted that it wasn't wise for the state to go after prisoners' pocket money.
"Work may be its own reward for some, but probably not for most inmates in the Department of Corrections," Karmeier wrote. "Once inmates realized that the extra work necessary to generate savings would benefit only the Department of Corrections, not them, they would quickly re-evaluate the utility of prison employment."
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"The department had elevated bureaucratic thinking over common sense," said Paul Glad, who represented Hawkins. "This opinion recognizes the importance of prison labor."
The state attorney general's office, which sued on behalf of the Department of Corrections, said in a written statement: "The court's opinion provides some much-needed clarity to the law and recognizes that the state can continue to recoup costs of incarceration under other circumstances."
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/06/16/2063529/top-illinois-court-says-state.html#ixzz1PWxkEOdp
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