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Trouble ahead

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Illinois

* One of the very few judicial losses by the Pritzker administration was in early August…

[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.

That decision was overturned a couple weeks later. However, the sheriffs did all they could during that brief window to dump prisoners on the state…

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.

If you recall, several sheriffs packed vans and buses full of unmasked prisoners and literally dumped them at prison doors.

* Tribune…

To put the numbers in perspective, there were fewer than 700 known infections of inmates and staff across IDOC from March to early August, when the latest surge began. Since then, the total number of infections has risen by more than 9,000 cases, state data shows. In total, nearly 10,000 inmates and staff have tested positive.

So, surge began around the same time the sheriffs were dumping their prisoners on the state.

* And yet, in that same article…

As for what caused the resurgence, that’s in dispute. IDOC officials said that when the virus is spreading in communities, staff may contract it at home and bring it into prisons. The screening process for staff includes temperature checks and, as of October, systemwide contact tracing.

The department says another source of infection is detainees being moved from county jails to prisons. Early in the pandemic, Pritzker signed an executive order that temporarily stopped the transfers, but they resumed in early August after the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association filed a lawsuit challenging the order. More than 4,000 jail detainees have entered state prisons since then.

But, hey, life ain’t fair. That Logan County judge tried to legislate statewide from his little county bench and, until he was finally reined in, the state was flooded with new inmates. It then became the state’s responsibility to deal with those folks.

* Back to the Trib…

Groups that track national virus data for state and federal prisons, such as the COVID Prison Project and The Marshall Project, place Illinois about average on lists comparing infections based on inmate populations, but Illinois has one of the higher death tolls.

Fatalities have been reported in at least 17 prisons across Illinois, with Dixon one of the latest hot spots. About one-third of Dixon’s staff was out recently due to sickness, union officials said, and at least 10 inmates, including Watson Gray, have died there since November.

Inmate advocates are pushing for more politically risky gubernatorial commutations and pardons.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 1:15 pm

Comments

I feel like DOC is place for the U of I test to be rolled out.

Why has that still not been better utilized? I know FDA ect… but at this point are we really waiting for the Feds to lead?

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 1:17 pm
===but at this point are we really waiting for the Feds to lead? ===

Nobody’s gonna do it without the feds’ permission. End of story.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 1:23 pm
This entire episode is a collective failure by DOC and the sheriffs. It started with DOC simply telling the counties they can’t send them any sentence inmates (via a Pritzker EO) regardless if they were Covid positive or not. This, of course, created panic at county jails by causing those facilities to be crowded with would be DOC inmates, increasing Covid exposure risks for the sheriffs. Instead of working out a testing and quarantine system that might allow for the safe transfer of inmates, both sides took absolutist positions and fought it out in court. I primarily blame the DOC for making little effort on the front end to come up with a plan, but there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Comment by Telly Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 1:50 pm
> Logan County judge tried to legislate statewide from his little county bench

Welcome to the fight against federal district court nationwide injunctions. Its nice to have you.

Comment by Just Another Anon Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 2:01 pm
Immediately release the victims of the (illegitimate) War on Drugs…for a new start…working in the booming Illinois cannabis market…for a win/win.

Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 2:13 pm
A firing offense (or should be) in this day and age is IDOC Director Jeffreys claiming that the increase in cases is due to an increase in testing.

Comment by Precinct Captain Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 2:19 pm
@JustAnother - Both sides forum shop so much. Supreme Courts at both levels need to start aggressively slapping down district courts that do this.

Comment by Chicagonk Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 2:30 pm
1/3 of people who test positive for COVID either have no symptoms at all or no fever. Temp checks are ineffective.

Staff should be required to abide by the Exec orders regarding social distancing when not at work, and should complete a questionaire at the start of each shift to affirm compliance and disclose whether a household member might have put them at risk.

Anyone at risk should get an instant test and should not start their shift until it comes back negative, for four days in a row.

Staff should be tested twice a week, staggered.

These rules should apply to group homes, veterans homes, psychatric hospitals and nursing homes.

Folks, this is not rocket science. This is Month 10, what has the governor’s office been doing this whole time?

Comment by Ferris Wheeler Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 2:31 pm
===Welcome to the fight against federal district court ===

Those judges are confirmed by the US Senate. These judges are appointed or elected at the county level. Big difference.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 2:39 pm
- Precinct Captain - Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 2:19 pm:

A firing offense (or should be)…

I totally agree…and made to sit in the dunce corner too.

Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 2:52 pm
@ Telly
I think the governor did the right thing by stopping the transfers. We didn’t know how bad this virus was going to get, the rate it would spread, and how high projected death toll was going to be. I stand by the DOC director on this one. He’s reforming the department and making smart comprehensive changes. Staff have to wear a mask, get their temps checked, get tested, and have access to ppe. Not much else you can do until people get the vaccines in their arms.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 3:00 pm
If there’s anything we’ve learned during the COVID-19 Pandemic is that we need to create some reforms that hold local officials accountable.

Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 3:51 pm
Speaking of DOC, the SJ-R is reporting that AFSCME members at Logan CC are continuing to push back against the Governor’s proposed budget cuts he announced last Tuesday:

https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2020/12/22/afscme-opposes-pritzkers-budget-cuts-saying-state-services-vital/3992062001/

The SJ-R is reporting that AFSCME officials are disputing the Governor’s statement that his administration is communicating with the union on the furloughs, personnel adjustments, etc.:

“Pritzker said last week that his staff “is in conversations with AFSCME” regarding negotiations on potential furloughs and other reductions in personnel costs, but AFSCME officials said this week that no one from the governor’s office has contacted the union about the matter.”

Comment by Essential State Employee Tuesday, Dec 22, 20 @ 4:05 pm