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Another county judge overturned as sheriffs lose appellate battle

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Illinois

* To refresh your memory, this was from a couple of weeks ago…

[Logan County] Judge Jonathan C. Wright ruled Monday morning that Pritzker’s order that temporarily halted county jails from moving prisoners to state-run facilities ran afoul of state law.

The Illinois Department of Corrections must accept an inmate within 14 days of a transfer, but Pritzker’s order struck that language for the duration of his emergency orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

* Well, the Fourth Appellate District just overturned the circuit judge’s preliminary injunction and stayed the ruling…

(W)e hereby find defendants have made a strong showing on their likelihood of success on the merits, which would offset equitable factors that may favor the plaintiffs.

* Trial judges should not attempt to govern the entire state from their little county benches. Make a ruling and then stay it pending appeal…

In Stacke, 138 111. 2d at 302-09, the Illinois Supreme Court explained that when considering whether to grant a stay pending appeal, courts should consider the following non-exhaustive factors: (1) whether the party seeking the stay is likely to succeed on the merits, (2) whether a stay would preserve the status quo,’ and (3) whether the balance of equities favors a particular party.

Section 7(8) of the IEMMA, 20 ILCS 3305/7(8) (West 2018), provides that the governor shall have the power to “[c]ontrol *** the movement of persons within the [disaster] area, and the occupancy of premises therein.”

At oral argument, this court asked plaintiffs if they had any argument as to why section 7(8) did not apply. Their only response was that it did not apply because another portion of the IEMMA states that nothing in the IEMMA should affect the responsibilities of the police. Id. § 3(c). Plaintiffs made a similar argument in their brief. However, we conclude that this limitation pertains only to active law enforcement and policing and does not extend to incidental activities such as transferring prisoners. When read in context with the remainder of § 3[(c)J, “responsibilities of police forces” refers to the core functions performed by the police, such as keeping the peace, protecting the public, and enforcing criminal laws. Transferring prisoners to IDOC custody is an administrative task outside of the essential responsibilities of police forces generally. […]

We acknowledge plaintiffs believe EO 2020-50 imposes serious hardship on numerous sheriffs’ offices throughout the State and is unwise and unfair. However, we do not pass judgment on whether the Governor’s actions are unwise or unfair, but rather on whether the Governor’s actions are authorized.

* Jim Dey…

The good news for Illinois’ 102 sheriffs is that they had two weeks to transfer roughly 2,000 inmates to state prisons. The bad news is that they now face the same problem they had before — holding newly-sentenced inmates in county jails who ought to be serving their sentences in prison. […]

Coronavirus infection numbers jumped in DOC after the department was ordered to accept inmate transfers.

Two weeks ago, DOC reported that 371 inmates had contracted the virus, 336 of whom recovered.

On Monday, DOC reported 729 coronavirus cases, 470 of whom recovered.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 10:48 am

Comments

Before claiming that DOC positive have risen, maybe you should examine where they’ve risen. 2 of the 3 highest inmate positive amounts are at Jacksonville and East Moline… neither of which are receiving facilities. Nice selective reporting though to push the blame on sheriffs. Again, these inmates are the responsibility of the state, not the sheriffs.

Why IDOC has not opened a closed facility to take ALL new admissions and quarantine them before moving to another facility baffles me. This seems like the most logical solution, but where has any logic been used in this fiasco?

Comment by DeputyDog Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 11:10 am
The cases of the novel coronavirus go up in DOC, but not when they’re in county jail?

Comment by ThinkingOutLoud Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 11:34 am
===maybe you should examine where they’ve risen===

Take it up with Dey.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 11:38 am
Deputy D. Shuttered facilities aren’t like little county jails. If the STATE, not the department, were to open a facility, there’s more to just assigning employees and unlocking the “doors”. But I’m sure you’re aware of the logistics that would be involved.

Also. You mentioned facilities with upticks. You failed to mention LOGAN. Also. You forgot the mention…The jails weren’t testing inmates before shuffling them, in large groups, to R/C facilities.

Cherry picking facts for your argument, IMO.

Comment by Back to Work Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 11:46 am
Between March and July Jeff Bezos was paid 48 billion dollars…meanwhile… State prisoners were paid one dollar per hour to fight wildfires…just for one revealing comparison.

Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:02 pm
And, Deputy Dog conveniently fails to mention the severe uptick in that time from 2 staff and 0 inmates to presently 25 staff and 40 inmates at the Menard Correctional Center, and the fresh wood put on the fire at the Stateville Correctional Center and now extending to the NRC at Stateville. Both of these facilities are old and so decepit, they are hellholes to be housed in even under normal conditions, much less quarantined in like dogs on days of highest temps. We’re talking about more humans being subjected to more inhumane conditions than most shelter animals.

Comment by Larry Saunders Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 1:19 pm
===The jails weren’t testing inmates before shuffling them, in large groups, to R/C facilities===

Please tell me how sheriff’s were supposed to test inmates before transport when it takes 5 to 7 days to obtain test results. Again, the inmates are the responsibility of the state, not the counties. State statute clearly dictates that.

Comment by DeputyDog Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 3:27 pm
I suggest, DeputyDog, that the counties and county court officials act now to reduce who you arrest (since the money is no longer there to pay to prosecute and house indiscriminately), and apply sentencing alternatives instead of spinning wheels trying to cram everyone into state prisons which are already underfunded and in dismal physical condition.

Comment by Larry Saunders Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 5:06 pm
@LarrySaunders - so we just stop enforcing the law and punishing criminals for their offenses? What world does that leave us with? IDOC population is nearly half of what it was a few years ago. Let me guess, you’ll only be happy when the prisons are empty? But you’ll call 911 the second you’re a victim of crime.

Comment by DeputyDog Tuesday, Aug 25, 20 @ 6:55 pm