Week of March 11: Another IDOC $$$ Scam

[Jims]

       

Scamming for Profits?

What a scam the IDOC has going. Can I prove it’s a scam?  No. But consider what I have to say and tell me what you think.
   
The mailrooms at most of the prisons in Illinois are so far behind in delivering the mail that the correspondence is outdated by the time it reaches the inmate. News from home becomes Old News from home. While it is always frustrating for the correspondents who are trying to keep up a meaningful and ongoing dialogue, sometimes the information being exchanged is critical. Wives, friends and family members are often de facto legal assistants (whose mail is not afforded legal status), putting together information necessary for inmates who are writing pro se briefs and post convictions. Timeliness can be crucial as court dates approach.
   
Family members worry about their inmates. Inmates who are ill, who are suffering depressions, or having adjustment problems depend on letters from home. The mail, for many (if not most) inmates, are lifelines and important connections to the outside world. But when the mail is held up for 2-4 weeks, they turn more frequently to the phone instead. Phone calls range in cost from $10-$35 a pop, so it doesn’t take very many of these to run up an enormous phone bill. And, to run up huge profits for the DOC.
   
The problems in the mailroom have been going on for too long to be considered a temporary problem. The problems have been going on too long to still be unsolved. Understaffing is not an excuse. Or I should say, it should not be an insurmountable problem. It would not be a problem for long in any non-union, corporate environment. Would updated equipment help? Would inmate workers doing non-security related jobs in the mailroom help help free up the staff to work on the mail? Would temporary re-assignment of officers help to get the mailrooms caught up?
   
The real issue of this editorial is a growing suspicion that the IDOC doesn’t want to fix the mailroom problems. Mailroom problems/slow mail delivery means more telephone calls placed by inmates. More telephone calls translate into higher profits for the DOC.
   
Is this a far-fetched conclusion to reach? Think about this. Menard was on lockdown last summer for part of April and May, all of June, July, August and part of September. During that time, few phone calls were allowed. How much money in lost phone revenue did they lose during that period of time? Half a million dollars? A million? Is it just a coincidence that the mailroom began a drastic slowdown in mail delivery beginning in October, right after the lockdown ended? Could this be an attempt to try to recover the revenue lost during the lockdown?
   
This possible scam is just one more facet in the ongoing scheme the IDOC has to suck money from family members, friends, pastors and attorneys of inmates. Please continue to support our campaign to bring this issue to the attention of IDOC administration, Illinois legislators, the Attorney General of Illinois, and the Executive offices of Illinois.[/font][/b]



Please support Illinois Campaign for Telephone Justice and sign the petition to stop the extortion now!!  Visit: www.illinoistelephonejustice.com

[QQin4meboo]

wowo Jims , I would have never put those two together , sounds like u have a valid point to me , I know Jay is still getting mail from January.

[babybabybaby]

omg The supervisors can under this contract CAN have employees do "other duties as assigned". That little clause is on the bottom of Every job description, for the state of Illinois AFSCME workers. For example, the midnight shift can be asked and required to sort the mail. The staff cannot refuse. They can file a grievance, but they cannot refuse to do as their supervisor asks. Then when the grievance is heard the staff can present their case the reasons why this task is just too much for them. The supervisors are remiss in their duties not to make the request of anyone. I heard the midnight shift was asked to sort the mail and they stated it was not in their job description. Management there is weak for not standing up to them because management has the clause "other duties as assigned". You know Southern Illinois you wanted all these prisons for your unskilled labor force. But you don't want to take the responsibility that comes with it.

All this unsorted mail leads me to believe that the superiors are not as hard on the Co's as they are on the inmates. We have all heard the stories of the persons in seg for nonviolent things. What is up with the Co's we the citizens of the state of Illinois can not afford to have supervisors that do not have the ability to get their staff to work.

Why is it that Pontiac has always been able to get their mail delivered in a timely fashion???? Go ahead and, have Pontiac show everyone else how it is done. You can not say that sorting mail in a timely fashion is just impossible - because it is not! Pontiac has proved that.

[rtippie]

When I was at East Moline I was an Admin Porter. I took mail from the mail room to the various offices in the Admin Bldg. I seen a cart filled with mail that was dated in 2005. I swear to God I did. I would subscribe to my local paper and have it delivered to me at EMCC and it took 1 week exactly to get the paper. No mail on weekends. There are only a few prisons that do not deliver mail on Saturdays but the CO's also act like they are doing us a favor by doing mail. The officer I had a problem with at EMCC said that he did not feel like passing out mail that night and I politely told him that he did not have an option and that if he did not run mail, I wanted to see a LT. right away. They think that most inmates are dumb to the fact that mail is a right and not a privilege.

Rick

[thesweetness2003]

Wow, Jims, that does sound like a scam, i mean that really sounds like something else some idiot in the doc exec suites could sit and drum up in their heads, seriously, i can really imagine how it would go down, i really think it's a shame. like inmates in doc aren't feeling bad enough being on lockdown. i know that when i don't get responses back from my honey, or i get respones from questions i asked last year, he does call me, and of course we talk about what goes on at home, life, bills, etc. do they really think that this won't lead to more depression for those inside that are already sad, and depressed, i think it does....or whats even more sad, is that when a family cant afford to pay the extremely high phone bill, waiting, makes it worse on both ends, it's really sickening....

[Schrader42]

That is a big problem and Jims has a valid point.  IDOC will do whatever it takes to make up for any lost revenue.  I for one have noticed that the food prices in the vending machines have gone up as well.  I think both families and inmates should fight back by cutting back on the phone calls or at least have some self control.  The phones bring in tons of revenue for IDOC and if everyone would just cut back like I did, we'd all be in good shape.  Continue sending letters to your loved ones, let them pile up - IDOC will have to find a way to get them to the inmates. 

[Gracielady]

I was recently released from KMSU...All the mail arrives thru Dwight CC...It was often 2+ weeks old...And KMSU no longer receives mail on Saturdays..(Effective July 1, 2008) as they told us, "We have no one to go get it and the mailroom at Dwight will be closed on Saturday"...But when your inside, there is nothing you can say or do...

[His Angel18]

I was under the understanding that tampering with the mail is a Federal.  Wouldn't this fall under that jurisdiction?????? Withholding the mail is a form of tampering with it ??? I am wondering if it is written anywhere that there is a certain amount of time that the mail has to be delivered.  Probably not for the IDOC.  It is worth looking into>
          His Angel18

[Dazzler]

I believe there's some law that once the mail arrives at the institution it then becomes the property of the IDOC and they can take their sweet time delivering it.

[Scout]

The DR's only state that mail must be delivered "promptly".  Anyone who knows the DOC knows how broad that word can be.

[Jims]

Plus, all IDOC has to do is issue the secret password: SECURITY. That allows them to get away with anything.