Arguing that Governor Pat Quinn’s push to close several state prisons is worsening dangerous overcrowding and that inappropriate inmate transfers pose a safety risk to prison workers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 filed suit today in Alexander County in far Southern Illinois.
The union is seeking an injunction to halt the threatened closure of prisons at Dwight and Tamms, adult transition centers in Carbondale, Chicago and Decatur, and youth centers in Joliet and Murphysboro. Governor Quinn is pushing to close the facilities despite opposition from prison employees, a legislative oversight commission and lawmakers who provided adequate funding to keep them open. The closure push comes even as the adult correctional system is overflowing with more than 48,000 inmates in facilities built for just 33,000.
The lawsuit details grievances filed by the union over the threat to employee safety posed by rushed transfer of inmates to other prisons ill-equipped to cope. While the state has refused to resolve the grievances, it is rushing to transfer inmates and hasten closing facilities.
“Inmates are being sent to prisons that are too crowded, too short of staff or lacking appropriate security features to safely incarcerate them,” AFSCME Council 31 executive director Henry Bayer said. “We’re asking the court for an injunction to prevent the state from moving forward with any closure until the related grievances have been resolved.”
“Plaintiff brings this lawsuit to protect its members that are at risk of injury and death due to the decisions of the Governor of the State, the Illinois Department of Corrections and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice to close multiple correctional facilities and to absorb the inmates at those facilities into an already overcrowded and overburdened correctional system,” the filing explains. “[A]lmost 5,000 inmates and youth will be transferred due to these closings. Many of the inmates that will be moved are those who have been intentionally segregated in the correctional system because of the danger they pose to guards and to other inmates. … The insertion of these inmates into the overcrowded prisons of the State will inevitably foment unrest that will put employees, other inmates, and the general community at risk.”
Tamms Correctional Center is located in Alexander County. It is the state’s only C-max (closed-maximum-security) prison for inmates who have committed or instigated violent attacks on employees or fellow offenders while incarcerated. Since the closure of Tamms was announced, employees throughout the prison system have documented rising tensions, increased gang activity, a higher incidence of weapons inside the facilities and more assaults on staff.
The suit notes that, “maximum security inmates at Tamms will be transferred to the maximum security prison in Pontiac, Illinois, where they will be single-celled. This means that many prisoners at Pontiac will now be double-celled in order to make space. This domino effect will make Pontiac a much more dangerous place to work”.
The large-scale reclassification and transfer of inmates precipitated by the closures poses a threat to prison employees and the public in nearly every Illinois region. If Dwight is closed, its inmates will go to Logan, with Logan inmates going to Lincoln and Lincoln inmates distributed statewide. Tamms transfers to Pontiac are already causing secondary transfers to Stateville, Menard and elsewhere. Joliet’s maximum-security transfers will go primarily to medium-security St. Charles and Kewanee. Nearly all these prisons are already at or well above safe capacity.
The union’s filing comes amid intense media attention to volatility and violence in state prisons, employee criticism of the closures and the Quinn Administration’s retaliatory efforts to silence rank-and-file whistleblowers.
“The Quinn Administration is failing its duty to ensure a safe workplace for its employees. Instead, it is sending men and women to work each day in prisons that the state’s own actions are making more dangerous,” AFSCME director Bayer said. “We’re asking the court to put a stop to these actions until our members are assured that when they pass through those prison gates, they will be as safe as possible.”
- Dan Bureaucrat - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 2:47 pm:
Overcrowding is a serious problem. So serious that we need to reduce the prison population by at least 3000, back to the levels we were at before we suspended good time in 2010.
But, if AFSCME is so concerned about overcrowding, why didn’t they support the bill to reduce overcrowding (SB2621)?
Seems like they are using the issue of overcrowding to keep prisons open. That’s what their members want.
- Rebuttal - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 2:47 pm:
The Illinois Constitution vests supreme executive power in the Office of the Governor and therefore… Look a kitty!
- Roadiepig - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 2:48 pm:
Aat the rate things are going Quinn will probably go down as Illinois’ all-time leader in having employee related lawsuits filed against him…
- BethB - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 2:52 pm:
Agreed- solutions to overcrowding are not simply to provide more places for incarceration, but also find ways to alleviate the numbers that burden this system through supervised release.
I’m also confused by this press release referring to doubling up inmates in Pontiac to accommodate the prisoners from Tamms- my understanding is that many of these prisoners would move to what was the former death row (single-celled), which up until very recently had been largely vacant since Governor Ryan did the mass commutations (with the exception of 15 men until last Spring).
- state worker - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 2:52 pm:
Why didn’t they hold this press conference last year when there were 1000 more prisoners in the system? Let’s see if they support reducing the prison population.
- Interested observer - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 3:03 pm:
Does anyone know if there is a precedent for this kind of action by AFSCME in IL or even other states? It seems to me that the Governor has the constitutional power to close these facilities if he wants.
- TCB - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 3:06 pm:
@ Interstate Observer
The lawsuit technically isn’t aimed at stopping the closures (though that’s likely the underlying goal) but to halt the closures until the union grievances are addressed.
- Roadiepig - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 3:07 pm:
The overall prison population could be reduced substantially by ending the failed war on drugs , repealing prohibition and regulating recreational drugs, but that’s not likely to happen in our nanny state
- Interested observer - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 3:16 pm:
Thanks, TCB. I’m still wondering if there is any precedent for this kind of action–especially on this scale? Also, insofar as AFSCME’s complaint is grounded in its contract with the state, isn’t this issue a matter for arbitration and not the courts?
- bartelby - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 3:24 pm:
The press release and law suit are dishonest. There has never in the past been a correlation between the operation of a supermax prison (in Illinois or nationally) and the overall level of prison violence. So any suggestion that these is a relation now between prison assaults (or days of lockdown) and the planned closure of Tamms is purely fictional. Moreover, since Tamms only holds 165 men (out of a total prison population of almost 50,000) it can have no measurable effect on overcrowding.
Obviously the guards and their union have a strong interest in making these false claims since they want to preserve every single prison job, and protect their right to exact vengeance against prisoners. The IDOC and the press must call them out on these misrepresentations, or they will continue and cause real damage.
- wishbone - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 3:32 pm:
“The overall prison population could be reduced substantially by ending the failed war on drugs, repealing prohibition and regulating recreational drugs, but that’s not likely to happen in our nanny state.”
Amen, when, oh when, will some one in power see the simple logic of this position. Put the same resources (or even less) into drug treatment and rehabilitation, and we will end up with a healthier population and far fewer people in prison.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 3:36 pm:
@TCB -
I think AFSCME is going to have present some pretty overwhelming evidence - increased worker injuries, for example - to convince the judicial branch that AFSCME can collectively bargain over any prison transfer.
What do they do if Quinn responds by announcing that AFSCME is forcing him to release thousands of inmates, which he DOES have the power to do.
- Dan Bureaucrat - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 4:06 pm:
YDD–AFSCME does not support lowering the prison population, only keeping prisons open. They did not support bringing back good time sentence credits, used for decades to control the prison population. They did not oppose suspending those credits even though it was clearly going to lead to our current population spike.
- Shore - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 4:09 pm:
AFSCME sticking up for criminals, sometimes it’s just how bad you dream it to be.
- stabbed menard vet - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 4:16 pm:
bartleby, I worked at Menard in the early 90s and was stabbed twice and scalded 4 times. This was before they single celled Pontiac and placed it on near permanent lockdown and before they opened Tamms. Your arrogance and ignorance are a prime example of someone who has never been through this speaking up. Opening Tamms was the single most effective deterrent to the ultra violent urges of hyper aggressive inmates. Before you make any more unlearned statements like that, put on the uniform and do the job at a max joint!
- Dan Bureaucrat - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 4:26 pm:
stabbed menard vet,
That is terrible and I’m glad and amazed you survived. As you well know, Governor Edgar’s administration allowed gangs to run the prisons. This ended because of reforms made in 1996 because the Speck tapes came out. Comprehensive changes went into place and violence dropped years before Tamms was opened. You surely don’t think that something in 1998 caused something in 1996?
- Cindy Lou - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 4:29 pm:
Something some seem to fail to understand in their ’spin’ statements here is that AFSCME does not make the laws, nor set sentences and/or send the inmates they recieve into the prison system.
- Excessively Rabid - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 4:30 pm:
“The overall prison population could be reduced substantially by ending the failed war on drugs, repealing prohibition and regulating recreational drugs, but that’s not likely to happen in our nanny state.”
Regulating and taxing to cover the cost of regulation, rehab services, and medical costs associated with drug use. And of course it’s a federal issue.
- Reality Check - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 4:31 pm:
It would be nice if those making anti-unions comments had any factual basis for their remarks.
AFSCME has always supported a responsible good-time policy as an essential incentive for good behavior and the successful completion of sentencing requirements. Likewise the union has always vociferously advocated for more investment in programs to rehabilitate inmates and reduce recidivism. On both counts AFSCME has worked closely with legislators and even the John Howard Association as I’m sure JHA will tell you.
Dan Bureaucrat in particular has no idea what he’s talking about. Try Googling “good time” on the AFSCME web site - here are just a few hits: “Properly administered, a program of earned good time is an important element of the criminal justice system. Inmates should feel that appropriate behavior while incarcerated will be rewarded. Such incentives help to maintain control within the prison walls” (2010) … “”The state must hire adequate staff to ensure safety and provide rehabilitative programs, and it must put a responsible good-time policy in place” (2011) … “the Governor just signed a bill to restore good time, and that should
reduce the population. But that bill requires earned good time - you have to be in school
or in treatment. These 300 inmates coming from Logan had programs there. And now
they’re shipped to Sheridan where they will have nothing to do, and no way to earn their
good time” (2012) … etc.
To the question of precedent, the union has prevailed in similar suits regarding the closure of Vienna in 2002 and Pontiac in 2008.
- Dan Bureaucrat - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 4:37 pm:
Reality Check,
That’s strange. I did not see AFSCME as one of the organizations supporting SB2621 to reduce overcrowding. Are you saying you did?
It seems like you are saying that AFSCME encourages the IDOC to reduce the prison population by implementing good time credits as soon as possible? And you support Governor Quinn in doing this? If so, that’s worth mentioning at your press conferences. Why didn’t you say so?
- state worker - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 4:43 pm:
Oh, now it is anti-union to criticize AFSCME? Sheesh. I think AFSCME is a special case.
- state worker - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 4:58 pm:
@Cindy Lou
I don’t quite see your point. Neither does the IDOC.
But, AFSCME delivers tons of money to legislators and wields more influence in the state capital than any other interest group. They influence policies. They have made it nearly impossible for any governor to close a facility. And they obviously have a lot of lobbyists and a press machine. Because this is a Democratic state and Democrats are rewarded by AFSCME, their power is stronger. This is just a fact. If you like AFSCME, it’s a good fact. If you think we should close a prison now and then, it’s a bad fact. They have a huge economic interest in keeping them open and they go all out. I’m impressed Quinn is standing up to them.
- stabbed menard vet - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 5:08 pm:
dan bureaucrat, no I was there and was dressed out on the tactical unit every day during the take back of the prisons in ‘96. As soon as Tamms became operational, the fear of being sent there caused a tremendous reduction in the actual attacks on staff. Tamms is not for every prisoner, but those most proven to be a danger. Please realize that IDOC is filled with that tiny percentage of society that deliberately ignores the laws of society. Then whne that is distilled down to the most violent and aggressive of that group, it is the reason for having a “super max”.
- C/O - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 5:20 pm:
Tamms CC is a deterrent: Before tamms gang members were loud and proud this also constitutes organization(which is BAD inside of a prison). With Tamms open not one gang member or chief will speak up and the fact that Tamms is located the most furthest away from the Chicago area as possible is a plus. I know we need to save money,but this is not the way!
- Cindy Lou - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 5:25 pm:
hmmm, “I don’t quite see your point. Neither does the IDOC.”…so you speak for DOC now?
- state worker - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 5:30 pm:
Cindy Lou…sorry for the confusion.
I meant “neither does the IDOC set laws, set sentences, etc.” But both the IDOC and AFSCME should support best practices, not try to keep our prisons open or filled.
- river - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 5:36 pm:
stabbed menard vet you might as well talk to you hand if you talk to dan some people are clueless and until you put that uniform on and do the job what you have to say is not important I believe he sits behind a desk in A/C all day
- SO IL M - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 6:56 pm:
It is always nice to see all the experts who have never worked around an inmate weigh in. And yes, Tamms did actually begin having an effect on inmates even before it opened. And yes, the Social Justice over Criminal Justice policies that have been put in place over the last 2 years are making all prisons more dangerous for staff and inmates alike.
- state worker - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 7:02 pm:
What policies have been put in place in the last 2 years? You mean ending good time?
- roadiepig - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 7:27 pm:
Excessively Rabid @ 4:30 pm:
Yes, of course it is a federal issue in the long run. Every time a state tries to stop the prohibition madness the Feds sooner or later step in and try to take control again (such as the recent federal crackdown on medicinal marijuana dispensaries in California). And yes, some of the savings from less police time and prison space would be needed for rehab of serious hard drug addicts. But considering the fact that over 25% of all people serving time are there for convictions on drug crimes (according to federal data from 2005), there would still be plenty of savings left at the end (and no I don’t use illegal drugs. I am just tired of this futile never-ending war on drugs that was started way back in the 1970’s by Richard Nixon)
- Interested in all the Interest-Based Politics - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 7:29 pm:
Saying that Tamms decreased violence from the first day it was operational–that’s a narrow claim and it would be awfully hard to actually prove. Saying it does not make it true. I understand why you say it. And I want you and everyone who works in a prison to be safe. But the only scientific data out there says violence went down in IL prisons in the mid-90’s, in the wake of a whole host of reforms that were instituted after the Speck tapes. Prison Reform Committee formed. Held lots of hearings. Many reforms were instituted, including regular shakedowns, cracking down on corruption, & not cooperating w/ gangs to keep the peace. A whole new approach to governing the prisons was suddenly being enforced. It is simply not true to say that Tamms was the one thing that turned things around.
- stabbed menard vet - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 7:39 pm:
You are correct. Tamms was not the only reason that we saw a drop in attacks, but it was a major deterrent. The gang leaders no longer would stand up and give orders to bust someone’s head, the individuals who would attack any chance they got, etc. all of a sudden had a new, very effective penalty to dread. If you want the most accurate and fairly balanced view of what prison is really like, read The Hot House, by Pete Early, he was allowed to go inside Leavenworth and interview anyone, guards, inmates, administration, etc. A very well balanced and insightful book
- SO IL M - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 7:44 pm:
State worker—-Mainly the Segregation reduction Project that DOC entered into with Vera, which also layed the groundwork to begin closing Tamms. Look it up. This combined with inmates seeing that there was greatly reduced consequences to their actions has emboldened a great many of them. The only reason MGT was ended was due to the ineptness of the Quinn Administration at running it.
Interested—I did not say that Tamms was the only thing, but it did begin having an affect before it was opened due to many inmates rethinking their actions and decideing they did not want to end up there. I dont base what I post on data I read put out by pro-inmate groups. I base mine on personal experience.
- SO IL M - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 7:46 pm:
SMV—If Im not mistaken, isnt that the book that also has a very informative chapter on the inmate that killed an officer at Marion. If it is the one I am thinking about it is a good book.
- Retired Captain - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 8:03 pm:
Everyone talks about what the Gov. of Wisconsin did & all along Quinn has been doing the same thing. Quinn signed a contract with AFSCME promising no lay offs, no closings, & employee raises. This contract he has not honored even after a Federal Judge ordered him too. Now he is attempting to close facilities & employees have not received raises of any kind in approx. 4 yrs. Without this agreement, Quinn never would have been elected. Everyone needs to realize that state workers don’t “want” people in prison. That is another complete debated between Lawyers & our legal system. HOWEVER, we do have the right to go to work & go home at the end of our work day just like anyone else. Our job is more dangerous because they take the robbers, rapists, ect off the street & place them in prison in hopes of keep society “safe”. We just want to stay as safe as possible while we are doing our jobs. I appologize to anyone who ever thinks they have paid so much as 1 dime of our insurance or retirement. My checks always reflected the government taking quite a chunk. If you have never worked in a prison, you simply cannot understand what it’s like. Talk to people, check things out BUT never believe everything the media throws at you!
- Taxpayer - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 8:10 pm:
Of course tensions are high! It’s a 100 degrees in un airconditioned, overcrowded prisons where people are dying and getting sick. We’re taking away fans, and typewriters and locking em down more often than not. Inmates are being shuffled around and denied any opportunity at rehabilitation beause there’s no funding and the recidivism rate is through the roof cause how on earth can any ex con get a job when our legislators decided we should create every kind of registry possible and plaster everything including the address they parole to on the internet causing harm to innocent families that agree to be a host site. Then add to it the mirage called SB 2621. Quinn & IDOC have both been quoted as saying it will reduce overcrowding implying it’s being used but more than 40 days after being signed into law not one person has been granted any sentencing credit. Why are taxpayers still footing the bill for thousands of inmates who are eligible and should be released? The last line of that bill says it’s effective immediately upon being signed into law. It’s passage looks like win, win for Quinn. The public and even the lawmakers who approved it think SB2621 is in effect and overcrowding is being reduced and yay Quinn’s going to close prisons to save us taxpayers money. It’s all smoke & mirrors. I don’t usually support union propaganda or filing lawsuits to fix problems but in this case I agree the situation is out of control and dangerous for those that live, work or visit our state prisons. We do need to close some prisons but we need to relieve the overcrowding, create sentencing reforms, add more boot camps and increase education & rehabilitative programs 1st. We can’t just keep cramming them in & adding more bunks. The union could help by coming up with some creative solutions to save their jobs & ensure safety like the Feds aren’t buying Thompson so why not open it up as a boot camp. $$ wasted while it’s sitting vacant and all the money spent keeping guys at reception waiting 4 months to get into a 4 month program. Our gov created quite a mess!
- wordslinger - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 8:25 pm:
Maybe an elected Alexander County judge will issue a temporary injunction. That’s politics.
But after that, the suit is a loser. Your cause of action is something that might happen in the future?
- stabbed menard vet - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 8:55 pm:
Taxpayer, I spoke with the Field Service folks last week about the Good Time project. They are putting it together, but they are also making sure that the same kind of fiasco that Quinn’s last attempt generated doesn’t happen again. They have already told the staff to be ready in the next couple of weeks for online training.
- truthteller - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 9:47 pm:
If Quinn wants to reduce prison population, he should propose legislation to do so. He is not releasing anyone, just closing prisons and shrinking capacity, making the remaining facilities even more overcrowded. If anyone thinks that inmates are better off when they are stuffed into smaller places, then say so.
Don’t pretend these closures are related to less harsh sentencing laws. And don’t pretend that you care about the inmates who will suffer from the lack of adequate space to house them.
- state worker - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 9:52 pm:
SO IL, Reducing overreliance on segregation can be good. We throw them in for little stuff that could be settled with good staffing, and then they get angry and frustrated and then we have a worse situation. Ive seen a lot of guys give tickets and throw people in seg as retal.I’m surprised that’s the policy you are talking about. I’ve worked in all parts of the system. There are a lot of blowhard BS administrators. But, guards can get really angry, entrenched and stuck in the past. IMHO, there should be a 5 year term limit on correctional Officers. They get too angry and they start hating and it’s time to go. Problem is, we don’t have enough people in southern illinois to take those jobs.
- Dan Bureaucrat - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 9:57 pm:
truthteller,
There is legislation to reduce prison population. SB2621
- Taxpayer - Thursday, Aug 2, 12 @ 11:09 pm:
Menard Vet- Thanks for the info, however there never was an early release “fiasco”. There was political cowardice and bogus press related to a 2009 program called MGT push. IDOC had a policy of not releasing anyone before they’d served 60 days in IDOC but that caused disparity when 2 people may have had the same sentence but one might have served most of it in county. The push program simply stopped the 60 day delay. That program affected about 1700 inmates and reduced their sentences by an average of just 37 days. There were politically motivated, false reports of murders committed, etc but none proved factual. Quinn had the opportunity to tell the public the facts but instead chose what I believe to be a cowardly approach by telling the public he suspended good time which is not entirely true. Some form of early release has always been in effect for decades and continues today for those who achieve GED’s or treatment/ classes and those sentenced to 50%. We didn’t give “good time” because we wanted to be nice to inmates or to simply control the prison population. Early release programs are an effective disciplinary tool. Without it we say follow the rules and get out in 2013. Don’t follow the rules and guess what you still get out in 2013. Quinn took away the easiest and most effective way to maintain order. I’m sorry I’m not buying the staff getting ready for online training in a few weeks. Training for what? Inmates are released every day and over the years early release was temporarily stopped and started again while some legal issues were resolved. SB 2621 clearly states eligibility criteria and this isn’t IDOC’s 1st dance with good time. IDOC knows how to release inmates. It is only logical that after the passage of SB 2621 it would be implemented quickly and BEFORE inmates were moved from closing facilities. It took days to implement the new cigarette tax law so again I ask what’s the delay in implementing SB2621. Honestly who do you think orchestrated the creation and passage of that bill? Smoke & mirrors!
- Anon - Friday, Aug 3, 12 @ 12:37 am:
When AFSCME forces the prison staffers who filed bogus workers’ compensation claims to return the money (more than $10 million from Menard Correctional Center alone), then I’ll listen to them.
- Panopticon - Friday, Aug 3, 12 @ 1:05 am:
Tamms was being planned and a committee was working on the Supermax model before the Speck tapes came out. From 1995 to 1998 prior to Tamms opening, it was being built. The inmates were housed all over the state and were know as TDT’s or Cicuit Riders. They caused chaos and uprisings at every facility they were housed at. I was bombed with feces, and urine at a medium security institution. It was common place, until Tamms opened. Speaking of the Speck Tapes, wasn’t Director Godinez The Warden at Stateville when the Speck Tapes came out? You can read an interview In the Tribune, where Godinez says he talked to Speck everyday. He also says Speck made the best hooch at Stateville and everyone there knew it. He is now the Director of IDOC.
The Vera Institute is a liberal think tank that is guiding the social justice reform in IDOC policy, not the legislature, or executive branch. Other liberal social justice policy makers from Chicago have strong ties to street gangs, organized crime, and corrupt Chicago politicians. This information is easily verifiable with the great invention of Al Gore called the Internet.some of you people have no clue as to how deep the corruption runs!