* This issue has been ignored at the Statehouse for years. I have no idea how to craft a politically palatable solution, and neither does anybody else, which is why it’s probably gonna be up to the federal judiciary to figure it out…
A federal judge in Chicago has found the Illinois Department of Corrections is violating the constitutional rights of prisoners convicted of certain sex crimes by making the restrictions on where they can live so stringent that inmates are often locked up long beyond their sentences.
In a ruling issued Sunday, Judge Virginia Kendall wrote that hundreds of offenders in the state’s prison system successfully complete their entire court-ordered sentences yet remain behind bars indefinitely. Kendall found the corrections department is depriving them of fundamental rights, and if they had money and support, they’d be able to leave and begin serving out what’s called “mandatory supervised release.”
Mark Weinberg, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the decision could mean relief for hundreds of people who have been in prison even though they’ve served their time. […]
In 2017, WBEZ visited and spoke with J.D. Lindenmeier, one of the plaintiffs in the case. At that time, Lindenmeier had been behind bars six years past his court-ordered release date. But he’s still in prison today, a total of eight years beyond his sentence because he can’t find a place to live that complies with the state’s requirements. […]
In the 2017 interview, Lindenmeier said he couldn’t afford his own apartment, so he turned to his family for help. But their living situations disqualified them under state law. He said his father lived too close to a park, his mother had a computer and smartphone with internet access, his sister had small children, and his dad’s girlfriend’s home was too close to a day care center — all violations of the state’s housing rules for offenders like Lindenmeier.
- OneMan - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 10:45 am:
The WSJ did a story about this as a national issue and talked about a hotel on Rt 30 in Iowa that was basically filled with offenders and their families because it was far away enough for everything.
Would drive by that hotel and I had always wondered why it was so full.
Having seen this in action (and ex-offender and his new wife purchased the house next to mine) and the limitations it puts, I am not surprised about the challenges. The only reason he was able to move into the house was they defined park as where the playground equipment was (not the edge of the parkland) and the home daycare a block away wasn’t licensed with DCFS. He ended up getting foreclosed on and the house is now a rental.
- Former Downstater - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 10:49 am:
We’ve seen situations like this in other states literally creating “offender communities” where people are concentrated in the few locations where they can legally live. In Miami, it is actually under an bridge ramp.
- A Jack - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 10:58 am:
Possibly turning an empty prison into a halfway house? I suspect most prisons are pretty far from schools and parks. Illinois has at least a couple vacant prisons not being used. Granted its not luxury accommodations, but if they are free to come and go then its better than being locked up. And its probably better than living in a van down by the river or under a bridge.
- Interested Observer - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 11:09 am:
A couple years ago, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority administered a task force that looked at sex offender law and policy. It found that the policymaking that has created this situation not only fails to protect people against sexual offending, but it likely increases risk. From the report: “Research has found that residency restrictions lead neither to reductions in sexual crime nor recidivism. However, registration and restrictions can prevent people convicted of sex offending from engaging in pro-social activities, such as work, that guard against reoffending.“ See: http://www.icjia.state.il.us/articles/sex-offenses-and-sex-offender-registration-task-force-final-report
- Bourbon Street - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 11:10 am:
On topic: The legislature had better start addressing this problem ASAP because the federal courts aren’t going to rewrite the statutes to make them constitutional.
Off topic: Just noticed the new warning from Rich about civility. Sorry to see that it had to come to this because some people cannot behave.
- Montrose - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 11:12 am:
“In Miami, it is actually under an bridge ramp.”
A lot of folks with sex offenses on their record in Illinois end up homeless because of the restrictions placed on where they can live.
“So child molesters have no place to live and are confined to a cell and this is bad because???”
Having been convicted of a sex offense does not necessarily mean someone perpetrated child molestation. And we have a criminal justice system in place that, supposedly, allows folks to pay their debt for the wrongs they have done and try to live a decent life once they have done their time. If we believe that certain sex offenses should come with lifetime imprisonment, that’s one thing. But telling someone they have paid their debt but then keeping them in prison for years on end after that is not right.
- NeverPoliticallyCorrect - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 11:17 am:
This is not only done in Illinois. What is needed is an evaluative process that attempts to determine potential risk. Not an easy thing to accomplish but better that than unlimited confinement.
- Bourbon Street - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 11:43 am:
@The DOC Thing: The legislature sets the range of sentencing for each criminal offense. Some are quite lengthy. After a conviction the judge determines the actual sentence (that has to be within the statutory range) after considering aggravating and mitigating factors.
What’s happening here is that some convicts are being held beyond their sentences. It’s not that anyone is saying that some sex offenders shouldn’t be held for lengthy sentences—many do receive a lot of time. Locking people up for years past their release dates is an affront to the system of laws we have. Society doesn’t get to keep people in prison because we don’t like the category of offenders they fall in.
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 11:59 am:
This is on the legislatures because of the i am tougher on crime and Han you. They kepted adding areas that were restricted. I think they added or were going to add cannot live near a school bus stop. You realize how often bus stops change? One town declared all land under power lines part of the towns park system effectively banning offenders from towns. Many never get out because released from prison are civilly committed. I cannot imagined a legislator voting to help a sex offender
- titan - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 12:07 pm:
The “not less than X feet from a school, church, park, day care center (etc., etc.) thing can easily be manipulated to make sure there is no where permissible.
I recall it being a ruse under zoning ordinances to effectively make “adult uses” prohibited everywhere in a community.
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 1:05 pm:
A sentence is not supposed to be a life sentence unless that is penalty allowed by law. The C in DOC is for corrections
Otherwise make it easy if convicted everyone does life without parole. America where everyone gets a second chance unless you need one
- Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 1:45 pm:
A few years ago I met a young man who was on parole. He was classified as a child sex offender for having had sexual relations with his high school girl friend (he was 18, she was 16). After spending several years in prison, he was released, but had a very difficult time finding a place to live; he could not live with family members because of the various restrictions placed on him (he ended up renting a room in the country). He tried community college, but had difficulty doing the work because he was not allowed to use a computer connected to the internet and he was eventually pushed out when his former girlfriend’s father called a college administrator. He had difficulty finding work (to pay rent) because his transportation situation was bad (no money). When he found a good job, he was forced to quite because he was not allowed to use a computer (which was required top do his job).
He got depressed and discouraged and turned to drugs. His parole ended when OD’d. No clue where he is now.
When he first got out, he was excited to have the opportunity to get his life going, but that did not last long. The system almost guaranteed the outcome.
- Lester Holt’s Mustache - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 1:57 pm:
==Possibly turning an empty prison into a halfway house? I suspect most prisons are pretty far from schools and parks. Illinois has at least a couple vacant prisons not being used. ==
I could get behind this idea from A Jack. Putting these creeps out in the middle of nowhere would probably be in the best interest of everyone involved. It isn’t fair for them to have to serve time beyond what they were sentenced, but it also isn’t fair to force folks (especially those with children) to have to move in order to avoid living near a sex offender. You bleeding hearts can complain all you like about second chances but as the father of a young child, if the choice is between keeping these people in jail or loosening restrictions so they can live wherever they want - I’m voting for whichever candidate falls on the side of keeping them in jail. “We make life too hard on convicted child molesters” is not a political rallying cry that anyone should get behind.
- crazybleedingheart - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 3:17 pm:
=You bleeding hearts can complain all you like=
Thanks.
People who have served their sentences should be allowed to live wherever they want.
- Lester Holt’s Mustache - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 3:41 pm:
==People who have served their sentences should be allowed to live wherever they want.==
Disagree, but by all means feel free to run for public office with that as the main plank of your candidate policy platform. I’m just assuming that most people don’t want to live near convicted sex offenders, I could of course be completely wrong
- Roman - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 5:18 pm:
The best way to fix this is for the judge to declare the entire sex offender registration law unconstitutional and to set a date when it becomes inoperable, meaning all registration rules and limitations go away. Then the legislature can start over on a new code. That way no one is taking the politically difficult vote of loosening restrictions on sex offenders.
- MyTwoCents - Tuesday, Apr 2, 19 @ 5:51 pm:
As Pot calling Kettle pointed out the problem with the sex offender registry is that it paints a very broad brush. First of all, it is not the child sex offender registry, so it’s not just child molesters. Secondly, there has to be a certain level of differentiation. For me, I’m a lot more concerned about someone labeled a sexual predator vs. just your run of the mill guy on the registry who maybe just made a mistake. But people hear “sex offender” and react emotionally and not rationally. Laws should be based on rational thinking, not emotional thinking.
- J - Wednesday, Apr 3, 19 @ 10:35 am:
Anybody ask the victims of these offenders what they thought??? Probably not. The victims are the ones that have to serve a life sentence of mental and sometimes physical anguish. Unless you are the victim, you probably have no clue and shouldn’t be allowed to make the decision on the fate of these offenders. The offender didn’t ask the victim if it was okay to inflict a lifetime of pain on them.