Illinois' Overcrowded Prisons: A Ticking Time Bomb

[Forevermah]

 Anthony Burke Boylan
Friday September 2nd, 2011, 11:27am



Illinois' Overcrowded Prisons: A Ticking Time Bomb


Illinois is risking costly legal action, the health of its prison employees and population due to severe overcrowding -- and a divisive partisan climate has made solving the problem far more difficult.

Illinois is risking costly legal action, the health of its prison employees and population due to severe overcrowding -- and a divisive partisan climate has made solving the problem far more difficult.

The prison population in Illinois is at a record high of 49,000, about 147 percent of the system’s capacity. Inmates are sleeping as many as four to a cell in prisons across the state, being housed on cots no more than two feet apart in basements, and prison staffs are facing greater dangers and have fewer disciplinary and precautionary options.

Prisoners and guards both are at greater risk. Correctional officers have fewer ways to discipline troubled or unruly prisoners, fewer ways to interdict contraband weapons and substances, and fewer ways to protect inmates who are potential targets of violence or even assassination attempts.

This week, two state legislators called for improvements. State Sens. John Jones (R-Mount Vernon) and Shane Cultra (R-Onarga) held a joint press conference urging the Governor to hire more correctional officers and to develop a responsible early release program.

“You can see this train wreck coming,’’ said Culta. Of particular concern to the lawmakers: the ratio of inmates to guards, which is as high as 34 to 1 on some shifts, they said. That figure is well above the recommended level of seven officers per inmate. Department of Corrections officials disputed the numbers, but did not provide alternative figures.

Existing facilities in the Illinois prison system were designed to hold no more than 33,000 inmates. Department officials, though, now claim the capacity is 51,000, a figure based on the number of beds they say can fit into the available space. A recent bid by the Illinois Department of Corrections to become accredited by the American Correctional Association was abandoned and many watchdog groups say it’s because the facilities could not meet the minimum square-foot-per-prisoner requirement.

“When there is overcrowding the violence increases and prisoners don’t get access to health care and mental health care,’’ said Don Specter, executive director of the Berkeley, California-based Prison Law Center that recently sued the state's prison system to relieve similar overcrowding. “Prisoners were dying at an alarming rate.

“Someone goes to prison for a minor crime and it ends up being a death sentence.’’

A lot of factors contribute to the current problem but the main three are sentencing laws, the state’s severe budget crisis and especially a politically-motivated decision by Gov. Pat Quinn to halt an early-release program that came under fire during his election campaign.

Quinn faced a tight primary race in 2010 and was criticized for the state’s Meritorious Good Time Push, a program that released some non-violent offenders with short sentences after only a few days in prison. At the same time, he ended the state’s regular Meritorious Good Time program, which had been in place for three decades. The prison population began to rise immediately and has gone up every month since.

Recent projections by the Illinois Department of Corrections estimated the population will climb even higher, to 49,500 in the near future. Current department head Gladyse Taylor now says officials expect the number to drop – but without a new early release program, plans to build new prisons or changes to sentencing laws, it’s unclear how that would happen.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union has condemned the situation and called for improvements for the safety of Illinois’ correctional workers.

“Ignoring the problem is unacceptable,’’ said Anders Lindall, an AFSCME spokesman. “The state must hire staff to ensure safety and provide rehabilitative programs and it must develop and implement a responsible good-time (release) policy.’’

Watchdog groups say there are two major ironies to the supposed get-tough policy on prisoners: Current incarceration policies don’t improve the safety of the general public – and might even make it worse – and taxpayers are footing an exorbitant bill to the tune of $1.3 billion annually at a time they can least afford it.

The John Howard Association of Illinois, a prison watchdog group, says research shows low-level, non-violent offenders who are incarcerated instead of given a supervised release are more likely to commit new crimes once they are released. That’s because their time in prison causes greater hardship and desperation socially and financially, restricts their ability to find work, and creates a general feeling of hopelessness.

“It would be some comfort if this money increased public safety,’’ according to John Maki, the coordinating director of John Howard. “But that’s not the case.

“Almost 70 percent of all Illinois inmates are in prison for non-violent crimes and about 50 percent of all offenders serve six months or less.’’

Like nearly every other group monitoring the situation, John Howard favors the creation of an early release program and revisions to sentencing laws that mandate prison terms for certain types of non-violent offenders, especially drug users.


http://progressillinois.com/posts/content/2011/09/02/illinois-overcrowded-prisons-ticking-time-bomb

Specter with the Prison Law Center sums it up like this: “You can build more prisons – at a huge cost to taxpayers – but if you don’t change the sentencing laws, you’ll just fill them up again.’’

[matetoo]

I copied this artical and sent to a TV station WCIA news chanel and asked them to do a story on the news about this. That is had been in several articals from differant senators and asked them why they are not addressing it? Maybe if all of us around the State did the same it would get more attention throughout the State and stir the good ole Gov! Just a thought and then it could be a trickle down to become more support when the senate and house come back in session. And or more pressure in Springfield.

[matetoo]

It takes allot of ants to move a mountain!

[rottiemama2003]

I agree, it is busting at the seams. I like the later part of the article most. If you build the will come...changes are needed... It really scares me, truly

[Forevermah]

Thursday, September 8,2011
State’s new definition makes crowded prisons sound OK

AFSCME: 2008“Operational capacity is number of warm bodies that can be crammed in

By Bruce Rushton
-
State prisons are not overcrowded if you ask the Illinois Department of Corrections.

“We are currently below capacity,” says Sharyn Elman, IDOC spokeswoman.

Others disagree.

“Overcrowding has been a longstanding problem in the state’s prisons,” says Anders Lindall, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which represents guards.

John Maki, executive director of the John Howard Association, a prison watchdog group, also says that prisons are full.

“We think there are too many people in our present system,” Maki says. “We’re reaching a point where we’re running out of space.”

The difference lies in how prison space is calculated.

In the summer of last year, corrections officials created a new category in quarterly reports to the legislature. First called “bed space” and more recently dubbed “operational capacity,” the category states the percentage of available beds occupied by inmates. Previously, the department had stated the design capacity of prisons and calculated whether facilities were at, below or above capacity based on the design figure.

The difference can be dramatic.

Consider Taylorville Correctional Center. According to the most recent quarterly report issued in July, there is room for more inmates, given that the prison is at 99 percent of “operational capacity.” However, with a design capacity of 600 inmates and more than 1,200 prisoners bunking down as of May 31, the prison is overstuffed by a factor of two.

Statewide, the state’s 34 lockups are at 95 percent of operational capacity and at 145 percent of design capacity, according to the July report. The state’s prisons are designed to hold 33,700 inmates. Nearly 48,800 inmates were confined as of May 31.

How IDOC calculates capacity is akin to someone stating that a dozen people can live in a three-bedroom home because that’s how many people can stay there, sleeping on couches and floors, for Thanksgiving weekend, Lindall says.

“This is an invented metric,” Lindall says. “Operational capacity is an Illinois Department of Corrections creation, which appears to represent the number of warm bodies that can be crammed into available space.”

Bottom line, Lindall said, state prisons are housing 15,000 more inmates than they were designed to hold, and 3,000 more prisoners than the lockups have ever held.

“It’s a crisis,” Lindall said. “It’s irresponsible. It’s not sustainable. It’s dangerous.”

Maki blames part of the problem on the end of meritorious good time, a program in which inmates received sentence reductions of as much as 180 days after serving at least 60 days. Gov. Pat Quinn stopped the program in 2009, after prison officials accelerated the practice that had been in place for decades, freeing some inmates after less than two weeks in prison, and drawing fire when the media reported that violent inmates had been released early.

Although a report published a year ago criticized the accelerated program, it did not recommend ending meritorious good time. Nonetheless, Elman said that there are no plans to reinstitute the program.

Lindall said the program should be resurrected.

“The union believes that a responsible program of good-time credits is a critical tool of any safe and well-managed prison system,” Lindall.

Reinstituting some form of meritorious good time won’t solve the union’s concerns, Lindall said. While the state has hired some new guards after years of union complaints that prisons had too many inmates and too few guards under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, there has not been a new class of cadets trained to work in prisons since the last class graduated last spring, Lindall said.

Elman said the department isn’t sure when the next class will begin.

“We have some on the books, but we have to see what happens with the budget,” she said.


http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-9076-staterss-new-definition-makes-crowded-prisons-sound-ok.html

[rottiemama2003]

Who writes the script for Sharyn Elman?

Rottie

[me]

Who writes the script for Sharyn Elman?

Rottie

 

[leighanns520]

Dont know how they say we have space for inmates.  They are unable to adequtely care for the ones already in the IDOC system.  Send my husband home.  I have plenty of bed space for him.   

[cinlu87]

I keep saying if they would send my husband home he wouldn't be making it out of the bedroom for a LONG time and it would be saving the state tons of money.  It would be a win win win situation.

[leighanns520]

I keep saying if they would send my husband home he wouldn't be making it out of the bedroom for a LONG time and it would be saving the state tons of money.  It would be a win win win situation.

If only it was that easy.  I could be hubbys warden for a long minute!!!!  definately keep him confined to the house, handcuffed to the bed lol

[syulm1970]

If the state wants to save money they need to bring back the 6 months good time.  What is this State thinking of.  Enough is enough!!  I can't believe this state is crying for money yet they won't let out those prisoners to stop the lack of space and funds being spent each day.  I think the they are scared to!!  I'm not voting for Quinn again!!!!!!!  All talk!!!!!!!!!!

[leighanns520]

No one will vote Quinn back into office on the next election.  He is through.  Illinois will go further into debt when and if they do close the mental institutions as the mentally ill will end up in the prisons, at more cost to the tax payers.  Quinn thinks he has got it together, however Illinois government is falling apart at the seams.  Had to listen to Quinn today and Obama tonight--- What a mess Illinois and our country is in

[Patsgirl05]

I agree!! Went to a meeting for work today and they said that Tinley Park will be going to maybe 50 or so beds. So this means people with the insurance/ funding has one less place to go to get the help they need! This is so sad!


I mean... No insurance / funding. Sorry typing on my phone

[ashleymike]

I used to be an inmate at the Vandalia C C, And let me tell you there are more rumors then you can imagine, The guards are the one who starts the rumors, i used to work in the yard office with all the guard and they would make bet on who rumor can get around faster so believe when you love one say he heard something it probably not true can came for a CO please stand by you love one they need you, my wife stood be my side for 11 months, its hard because we counted on the good time and it never came, all i can say is keep your keep your head up! The state got to do something soon, I seen on the news tonight that Quinn plans to close prisons, My question is where dose he plan to put those people. I know when I was in VCC its bad they have people in the basement with floods.  I could only Imagine How bad it got now I was the for 10 months so if anybody haves a question I can try to help answer them. All I can say about the good time is to keep looking on IPT they have the latest news my wife kept me updated when I was in there through the ipt website.

[Patsgirl05]

Yes that's what I've understood! Prisons are becoming overcrowded and the more mental health institutions they close the more people that will end up in the system.

[jbdec]

I just got back from visiting my son in Taylorville and he said contractors were in his dorm the other day bidding on renovating existing bunk beds in already overcrowded rooms which originally intended for sleeping 10 inmates and now sleep 20. In the prisons efforts to get ready for closing down Logan...if they do what the contractors said they were bidding on, they would be turning double bunks into triple bunk beds.  Can't believe it....asking for so many trouble if this becomes a reality! Has anybody heard similar things?

[Ira]

Oh wow!!! My husband is also in Taylorville, I will ask him tonight if he heard something like that too.... I thought they might do that, but did not want to say anything here, because that's just crazy-stupid... There are too many people in those dorms already. Too loud, too little personal space adds up to trouble. Adding 10 more people to those rooms is plain asking for fights and conflicts all over the place....