Prisons

Yesterday At City Hall: Daley's Budget, Wal-Mart, DREAM Act, Police Transparency

Angela Caputo — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:12:16 -0800

The Chicago City Council held its full monthly meeting yesterday. We've got some of the highlights:

Budget Priorities Take A Beating

All eyes have been on Mayor Daley's 2010 spending plan as of late, which relies on $370 million from the city's asset-sale proceeds to help balance next year's $6.14 billion budget. Despite this windfall, the safety net is still going to take a hit. During the public portion of yesterday's meeting, several social service providers testified in favor of restoring the cuts to substance abuse and mental health funding. As regular readers may recall, the city's 12 mental health clinics will lose an additional $3 million in state funding this year because of the Daley administration's own incompetence at implementing a new $16 million billing system.

In response, Ald. Joe Moore (49th Ward) voiced support for rescinding the cuts and blasted Daley's "property tax relief" gimmick -- a plan introduced yesterday to pull $35 million from a reserve fund created by the parking meter lease to refund some taxpayers between $50 and $100 on their bills. "What impact is that going to have on those homeowners lives? It's very negligible," Moore said. "I think you're going to get a lot more bang for your buck by helping the mentally ill lead productive lives through counseling and other support services." Listen:

Internal mp3

Ald. Moore isn't the only one slamming Daley's meager property tax rebate. After combing through the budget proposal, the Civic Federation concluded (PDF) that, while the city should indeed pull $56.5 million from the parking meter human infrastructure fund for operating expenses, none of it should go to Daley's so-called property tax relief. Elsewhere in their report, the business-friendly think tank pushed for greater cuts and chided the mayor for dipping into the asset sale reserves, urging the City Council to enact certain safeguards.

The Federation also called out Daley's efforts to keeping the vast tax increment financing (TIF) budget hidden in the shadows, noting that there's no excuse for excluding "full financial information including expenses, revenues, fund balance and debt" from the annual budget.

Lyle Slams Proposed Wal-Mart Expansion

Later in the meeting, one of City Hall's most reliable critics of Wal-Mart's race to the bottom, Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th Ward), went toe-to-toe with Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Roper yesterday over the mega-retailer's push to open additional stores in Chicago. The common refrain from pro-business groups like the Chamber has been that the South Side is lucky to attract any new jobs in this economy and that the community is starved for low-cost retailers.

Lyle isn't so sure. "We have been taught as a people in the past 20 or 30 years that we're just consumers and all we should be looking for is the lowest price. But we're not just consumers," she said. "We're citizens, we're parents, and hopefully, we're taxpayers ... While I want the lowest price, I don't want to do it at a cost of impoverishing my neighbor." Listen:

Internal mp3

Lyle's remarks came after several other aldermen questioned Roper about Wal-Mart without bringing up the issue of wages.

Keeping The DREAM Act Alive

Yesterday, aldermen reaffirmed their support for Sen. Dick Durbin's DREAM Act by handily passing a resolution (by a 49 -1 vote) that calls on Congress to create a path to citizenship for young adults who've spent most of their lives in the U.S. The plight of Rigoberto Padilla -- an honor student from the University of Illinois at Chicago who is scheduled for deportation next month based on a misdemeanor DUI offense -- has become a prime example of the need for comprehensive immigration reform. With Congress poised to act next year, aldermen are calling on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to halt the deportation of students like Padilla who would be eligible for legal status under Durbin's measure. Alds. George Cardenas (12th Ward), Manny Flores (1st Ward), Ricardo Muñoz (22nd Ward), Danny Solis (25th Ward), and Toni Preckwinkle (4th Ward) took the lead on the resolution (Ald. Jim Balcer cast the sole "no" vote).

Here's what the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) had to say following the roll call:

The plight of Rigo, a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), illustrates what is wrong with current immigration laws. He came to Chicago at age 6, and has lived in Chicago most of his 21 years. During this time, Rigo has been deeply involved in the community, volunteering, studying, working and in general making Chicago a better place. Nevertheless, he is scheduled for deportation on December 16.

More than 400,000 immigrants have been deported in the past year, with damaging consequences for countless communities. Rigo is a great kid, an outstanding student, a hardworking young man with many aspirations and dreams to become better and to contribute more to this country, the country he calls home. The passage of this resolution is a symbolic action that sends a very powerful message to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and DHS: we cannot allow more lives to be destroyed by an unfair, outdated immigration system that doesn’t reflect our values as a country of opportunity and fairness.

More Transparency From The Police Board?

The Chicago Justice Project (CJP) made a splash last month when it released a report questioning why the city's Police Review Board -- the last line of defense for police accountability -- is so reluctant to fire wayward police officers. Despite the police superintendent's own recommendation to cut certain officers loose, CJP found that the board inexplicably kept 63 percent of those officers on the payroll.

Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd Ward) responded yesterday by introducing an ordinance that would require the board to better explain those decisions. The Sun-Times explains:

Fioretti is proposing that board members’ individual votes on officers’ disciplinary cases be posted within two business days on the Chicago Police Board’s Web site and stay online for at least two years. He also is proposing that all findings and decisions — including an explanation of the reasoning behind them and a rationale for dissenting votes — be posted online for two years, too.

Under Fioretti's measure, board members -- nearly half of whom skipped 30 percent or more of the monthly meetings -- would also see their annual stipends cut. Term limits would also be imposed so board members could only serve consecutive five-year terms. “CJP fully endorses these ordinance revisions,” writes executive director Tracy Siska.

Manzullo: Islam Is A "Savage Religion"

Adam Doster — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:05:27 -0800

The rhetoric offered up by the Illinois GOP in response to the proposal to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the Thomson Correctional Center in Northwest Illinois has so far been irrational and irresponsible. After all, Illinois already houses 35 inmates arrested on terrorism charges. Since put behind bars here, they have gone "totally unnoticed," writes the Tribune editorial board today. "They have shown there are no special risks from confining suspected terrorists in the Land of Lincoln."

Responding to the rash letter penned by GOP Rep. Mark Kirk and signed by numerous Illinois Republicans, the Sun-Times editorial board adds:

What troubles us is the fear-mongering among those who oppose the plan -- beginning with U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, whom we once viewed (and repeatedly endorsed) as a moderate and thoughtful fellow.

Kirk and other excitable Illinois Republicans are warning that Illinois "will become ground zero for jihadist terrorists plots." Can we get real here?

But none of the comments were more unreal -- and reprehensible -- than those from U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, whose congressional district includes the Thomson prison. Speaking to WREX about the plan to sell the facility to the federal government, Manzullo said of the detainees, "These are really, really mean people whose job it is to kill people, driven by some savage religion." Watch it:

A "savage religion," Rep. Manzullo? Care to say that to the face of any of the 2.35 million Muslims currently living in America, thousands of whom serve in the military that carries this country's flag into battle? Or how about the 1.57 billion Muslims worldwide, the vast majority of whom practice peacefully and reject Islamic extremism?

Granted, horrible acts have been carried out in the name of Islam. But the same is true of Christianity. Yet somehow we don't think we'll hear Rep. Manzullo using inflammatory generalizations to describe that particular religion.

(H/T commenter "Marcus Agrippa")

The GOP Loses It Over Thomson/Gitmo Plan

Adam Doster — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:49:49 -0800

Illinois' prison system is finally making major headlines. But not for the reasons we had hoped.

Over the weekend, the White House announced that the near-empty Thomson Correctional Center in rural northwest Illinois has emerged as a potential candidate to house terrorism suspects from the Guantanamo Bay military prison. Federal officials, at the behest of the White House, are scheduled to inspect the facility today. Gov. Pat Quinn and Sen. Dick Durbin will hold a series of press conferences outlining the potential plan, which they argue would spur the local economy. If approved, the federal government would purchase the 1,600-cell, maximum-security prison and fill it with regular inmates. They would then set aside a section for the less than 100 Gitmo detainees as a way to help close the controversial prison in Cuba.

Yesterday, like clockwork, GOP lawmakers pounced on the issue, unleashing a barrage of attacks on Quinn and the White House for even considering such a move.

In a letter signed by the seven-member GOP congressional delegation, Rep. Mark Kirk warned that "our state and the Chicago Metropolitan Area will become ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots, recruitment and radicalization." Not to be outdone, Rep. Peter Roskam suggested that 'terrorists have no place on American soil." Rep. Judy Biggert added a similar thought, suggesting that "these detainees pose a unique threat to America's security" and they should be "kept away from our shores, and far from America’s heartland." Later this morning, Kirk, Roskam, Biggert and Rep. Don Manzullo will air their grievances at a joint press conference. And they've already circulated a petition calling on President Obama to "stop Al Qaeda terrorists from coming to Illinois." Even two Republican gubernatorial candidates, Dan Proft and Andy McKenna, got in on the action, the former releasing a statement that calls the plan "a terrible idea that threatens the safety of Illinois residents" and the latter telling the press he opposed "efforts to move Gitmo detainees to our neighborhoods."

This is a serious issue that deserves serious scrutiny. For example, AFSCME Council 31, which represents Illinois prison guards, is angry that the state would sell off Thomson instead of using it to ease overcrowding at the state's maximum security prisons. But before pols get all hysterical, it's important to understand what exactly is being proposed.

Here are a few facts. (Capitol Fax has a helpful compendium of links that offer some context.)

First, Roskam is just flat-out wrong when he said that terrorists "have no place on American soil." In fact, many are currently residing in U.S. prisons. Federal facilities currently house 216 international terrorists and 139 domestic terrorists. Thirty-five of those inmates are housed in Illinois. U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Traci L. Billingsley says that none of them have ever escaped. And Durbin -- one of only six senators to vote to fund the closure of the Guantanamo detention facility -- made a salient point on the Senate floor in May: Those who think our prisons can't handle these detainees "ought to have a little more respect for the men and women who are corrections officers."

It's also very important to remember that these detainees would be isolated from the general population. Other high-security prisoners would have no contact with these terrorists. No words would be exchanged and no ideologies discussed. They will be monitored very closely. Perhaps that's one reason why locals aren't too nervous about accepting the transfers.

Kirk will be sure to flaunt his military expertise at the press conference today, warning that he truly understands that threats posed by the Thomson proposal. But his inflated rhetoric on this issue proves he doesn't care about subtlety or thoughtful policy when a political point can be gained.

"It's hard not to wonder if these guys are even listening to themselves," writes Steve Benen. "Locking up terrorists is bad for security? Federal prisons are 'ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots'? It's like listening to children."

Some Illinois Media Misfires

Adam Doster — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:07:42 -0800

Combing through the Illinois political coverage today, we found ourselves frustrated by a handful of things. Here's a rundown:

Stantis on early prisoner release

Tribune political cartoonist Scott Stantis published a brutal cartoon about the state's early prisoner release plan this morning (you can view it here). It depicts a pack of snarling dogs leading a group of ominous-looking animals -- snakes, bats, etc. -- out of a prison cell. On a stool next to the door, a quivering piece of jello with the label "Quinn for Illinois" says "I'm pretty sure this will work ... unless it doesn't."

Where to begin ...

On the merits, the cartoon is wildly sensationalistic. The 1,000 inmates being released (62 this week) are nonviolent offenders serving sentences less than one year long. These are not hardened criminals -- many are likely in for drug offenses -- and they were scheduled for release anyway.

And why are the animals so darkly colored? "Without knowing the race of the prisoners being released," quips The Beachwood Reporter's Steve Rhodes, "it's never a good idea to depict criminals as dark animals when the incarcerated are disproportionately people of color." Indeed.

Sweeny on Jim Ryan

Next up is the latest column from the Rockford Register Star's Chuck Sweeny, which runs down Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan's "proposals to return the state to solvency."

Among Ryan's ideas is a constitutional cap on state spending pegged to population growth and the rate of inflation. Nowhere does the column note that restrictive spending gaps have devastated state services elsewhere and were voted down in two states more conservative than Illinois this past election.

Ryan also provides several pie-in-the-sky estimates about the potential savings his reforms would generate. For instance, Sweeny repeats his projection that instituting a two-tiered pension system would save "$1 billion to $2 billion annually" (in fact, such savings wouldn't be realized for several decades). Sweeny also reports his estimate that "putting Medicaid patients on managed care" would save "more than $1 billion a year" (it wouldn't).

Next time, the Register-Star should just throw Ryan's name in the byline.

Greg Hinz on state pension debt

Finally, we have Crain's Greg Hinz, who outlines a new "study" on the state's pension system by the National Taxpayers United of Illinois. Our problem with the piece is two-fold. First, Hinz fails to mention that the report is basically just a rehash of the Sun-Times investigation published in September. This report only repackages old data.

Then there's this paragraph:

[T]he state's five big pension funds have $80 billion to $100 billion in unfunded liability, depending on when and how the total is computed. Groups like Mr. Tobin's argue that the base problem is excessively high benefits, but labor groups blame the Illinois General Assembly for grabbing money that was supposed to be set aside for pensions and instead blowing it on more popular things.

Instead of this he said-she said reporting, it would be helpful to look at the data.

In response to Tobin's claim that "excessively high benefits" are to blame for the debt, it's important to note that the average retired Illinois state employee takes in just $17,112 a year through their pension. Much of that money is generated from employee contributions and interest -- rather than taxpayers.

Meanwhile, the General Assembly's responsibility for the growing debt is irrefutable and widely-accepted. For instance, BusinessWeek's 2005 article on state pensions cites the Civic Federation's finding that "since 1970 Illinois has not once paid its annual pension bill in full." More from the piece:

Through bull markets, bear markets, and sideways markets, the state has consistently lagged, and over time those delays have become more and more expensive. The culprit: reverse compounding. A pension plan's obligations are determined in part by the expected investment return on its assets. In the case of Illinois, that is 8%. So for every dollar not added to assets in time, the state is effectively borrowing from the pension plan at 8% interest.

Last we checked, the Civic Federation doesn't qualify as a "labor group."

Chicago Police Board Lets Abusive Officers Slide

Angela Caputo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:22:36 -0800

Is accountability so sparse in the Chicago Police Department that even a recommendation by the superintendent isn't enough to get an officer fired by the Chicago Police Board? Based on the latest research (PDF) by the non-profit Chicago Justice Project (CJP), it seems so. Here's what the organization examined in their report:

[T]he Chicago Justice Project (CJP) examined ten years of the Board’s decisions in cases for which the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department sought the termination of either sworn officers or civilian employees. We included the cases involving civilian employees for comparison purposes. Our study covered 310 cases over the course of a ten-year period starting in January 1999 and ending in December 2008.

Over this period, CJP identified 248 instances in which the superintendent recommended that a particular officer get the ax. The mayoral-appointed board, however, only fired only a fraction (37 percent) of these cops. In most of the remaining 63 percent of cases, the board didn't retain the officer in question on the grounds that they were unfairly accused. Rather, they agreed with the superintendent's conclusion, but chose to handed out less severe punishments, such as suspension.

The big mystery is exactly how the ten-member board arrived at those decisions. "They're the last link in the chain for police accountability and they're overturning decisions about officers who are violent," CJP executive director Tracy Siska tells us. "They're putting them back on the streets without an explanation."

Take the case of Officer Gerald Callahan, who former Superintendent Phil Cline recommended for termination (PDF) in 2006 after several altercations with his fellow officers. The board chose not to fire him and the two years later CPD found itself having to answer for his actions after he attacked a 61 year-old man at a Niles bar.

CJP says that by letting Callahan and other abusive officers off the hook, the board is putting the public in jeopardy. Indeed, these types of incidents routinely open the door to costly lawsuits; between 2000 and 2007 alone, taxpayers spent $172 million settling litigation related to police misconduct, some of which could have been avoided with proper oversight. Meanwhile, when it comes to civilian employees recommended for termination, the board hasn't flinched (73 percent were fired during the same ten-year period).

Encouragingly, some city officials -- including Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th Ward) -- pushed back at a hearing last Friday, as WBEZ reports:

PRECKWINKLE: It seems like an explanation, not just facts, of the decisions that they reach would be extraordinarily useful to the citizenry.

It appears that the lax police board (nearly half of the members missed between 20 and 34 percent of the monthly meetings) is about to get a wake-up call. Later this month, a handful of aldermen -- including Preckwinkle, Joe Moore (49th Ward), and Bob Fioretti (2nd Ward) -- will introduce an ordinance setting attendance standards and requiring the members to put their decisions in writing.

"We think if they have to provide a public rationale, they might be less likely to put violent offenders back on the beat," Siska says. "This is just one of dozens and dozens of boards that is not scrutinized. That needs to change."

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user caribb.

Stopping The "Revolving Door" Of Illinois' Criminal Justice System

Angela Caputo — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:21:03 -0700

Last year, The Chicago Reporter launched an investigation revealing gaps in supportive services -- from counseling to financial assistance -- for some 90,000 Illinois children whose parents are behind bars. One of the most personally devastating holes was the lack of contact between the incarcerated and their children, a majority of whom live at least a three hours away by car from where their parents are locked up. As The Reporter noted, many are starting to use alternatives to travel, like a Lutheran Social Services Program that helps inmates record messages to their children. They revealed the deep connections that come of the simple communication:

“It really don’t matter what book I read to them, they love it to death,” said [inmate Rodney] Strohmayer. His 4-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son in Sterling, Ill., have been getting tapes for the past four months. His daughter walks around all day and night, “playing this tape over and over again,” Strohmayer said. This time they will get Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham.”

The program doesn’t just help the children; it has had a profound effect on Strohmayer himself. His incarceration helped him understand how much his children mean to him, and knowing that he has a family to go home to makes it easier.

While lawmakers still have a long way to go in addressing the problems exposed by The Reporter, a key piece of legislation (HB1995) that could serve as a lifeline for those families is making steady progress. The bill, which was shepherded through the House earlier this month by State Rep. Karen Yarborough (D-Maywood) and is now sponsored by Chicago Democrat Sen. William Delgado, would require the Department of Corrections to create a video conferencing pilot program. The hope is that over the next two years, the program will help quantify the impact of keeping inmates engaged with the outside world. "We have to make our criminal justice system more than a warehouse with a revolving door," Yarborough said at a press conference highlighting the legislation yesterday.

"Then [inmates] see what they are coming home to," State Rep. Will Davis (D-Homewood) added, "to their children and other positive things." Davis' comments took an interesting turn when he touted the video conferencing system as one way to control the profit motives for growing the state's prison population. "Those people who live in those towns want them to come because that [fills] hotels and restaurants," Davis said. "We understand that this is capitalism and this is the way of America. There's no reason they should be built on the backs of people unfortunately in this situation." Watch:

While the pilot is certainly a step in the right direction, a new report by the Council of State Governments' Justice Center highlights dozens of additional reforms that states ought to consider to strengthen parent-child relationships in an effort to break the cycle of recidivism. Go read the whole thing here (PDF).

Randle's Early Release Program Gets Some Support

Adam Doster — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:55:32 -0700

New Illinois Department of Corrections Director Michael Randle has had a busy first few months on the job. In September, he issued a set of 10 proposals to reform the Tamms Correctional Center, a flawed yet important plan that finally acknowledges the human rights abuses that have been taking place under the state's watch. Now, facing massive budget deficits and an immense prison population, Randle is leading the Quinn administration's effort to roll out an early release program.

Thankfully, he's taking the correct approach. In an interview with the State Journal-Register over the weekend, Randle said his department is "using [the budget crisis] as an opportunity to review every facet in this department," including the state's punitive and inefficient approach to handling what he calls "short-term offenders":

Randle says 47 percent of all inmates released from Illinois prisons have been there six months or less; 22 percent have been in state custody for fewer than 63 days. This is largely because of a combination of prisoners having already received substantial credit for time served in a county jail while awaiting trial and a cumbersome and costly intake process that precedes their assignment to the prison where they are to serve their sentence.

“By the time a guy comes to us and he gets his jail time credit for the days that he served in county and he gets his statutory credit, I’m letting these guys go before I can get them into a parent institution,” Randle said. “And even if I got them to a parent institution, I’ve got a waiting list for drug treatment in my parent institution. These guys are coming and going so fast that we are not able to get them the treatment that they need.”

Both the Sun-Times and the Journal-Register editorial boards have voiced approval of the early release program. The former says it is "well-designed to minimize the risk to the public, and in fact, it is intended to improve public safety in the long run by doing a better job of rehabilitating ex-offenders." They also laud Randle and a crew of state lawmakers (led by Chicagoans Rep. Will Burns and Sen. Kwame Raoul) for looking at sustainable ways to lower Illinois' incarceration rate, namely by passing and vowing to support the Illinois Crime Reduction Act of 2009, which the General Assembly approved in May. SJ-R details the benefits of the bill:

The passage of the Illinois Crime Reduction Act of 2009 last spring predated Randle’s appointment, but it ushers in a host of progressive and sensible changes to this state’s criminal justice system. By establishing better criteria for evaluating offenders and providing incentives for county judges to keep certain nonviolent offenders out of the state prison system, the new law holds great promise for making the corrections system less expensive and more effective.

With reformers adding their voice to a debate that has long been dominated by law-and-order politicians, maybe there is still hope for more intelligent criminal justice policies in the Land of Lincoln.

Rockefeller Reforms And The Prairie State

Adam Doster — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:36:30 -0700

New York Gov. David Paterson probably will not be elected to serve a second term in Albany, but his legacy may have been cemented yesterday when the state officially repealed significant portions of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Instituted in 1973, the strict and punitive provisions removed judicial discretion in sentencing and mandated harsh penalties for nonviolent drug offenses, which ultimately increased New York's prison population dramatically. While the reforms that were passed this spring and signed by Paterson still leave some room for improvement -- mandatory minimum sentences are maintained, for example -- drug treatment programs were expanded and judges were provided more discretion to divert nonviolent criminals into those programs. Approximately 1,100 individuals currently serving long sentences for are now eligible for re-sentencing.

The occasion presents an opportunity for Illinoisans serious about criminal justice reform to reflect on our own state's progress in this field. And New York could serve as a good example for how to begin tackling reform. Even before the Rockefeller laws were paired down, New York officials had taken significant steps to diminish its prison population, according to Northwestern University School of Law's Malcolm Young:

New York never enacted rigid determinate sentencing and, apart from the notorious Rockefeller drug laws, avoided high mandatory minimums, according to the report. New York also invested in an infrastructure of alternatives to incarceration. It rapidly disposes of thousands of minor cases without lengthy pre-trial or post-sentencing incarceration and recently revised stiff drug-sentencing laws to keep low-level drug offenders out of prison and accommodate the release of rehabilitated offenders before the end of their sentences.

These smart policies resulted in a 9 percent decrease in the Empire State's prison population between 1995 and 2007. During the same period, Illinois prisons grew by another 20 percent. (We now house over 45,000 inmates at a cost of $1.36 billion dollars per year.) However, instead of spearheading serious anti-recidivism and sentencing reforms, our top prison official is busy withering criticism of an early release plan that won't endanger public safety and will save the budget-strapped state money.

To be blunt, we are still way behind the curve.

Preckwinkle's Anti-Recidivism Push

Adam Doster — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:07:29 -0700

In the crowded field of Democratic contenders for Cook County board president, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th Ward) has stood out from the pack when it comes to defining and articulating her platform. For months now, before potential voters and press, she has made her reform agenda quite clear. Meanwhile, some of the other candidates still haven't provided their full view on the issues.

Most recently, Preckwinkle appeared on ABC 7 this past weekend, where she reiterated three ways she would break from Todd Stroger's administration: begin to roll back the sales tax hike gradually; make permanent the Cook County Health System's independent governing board; and expand jail diversion programs already being administered by the Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart's office (including the Day Reporting Center, Sheriff's Work Alternative Program, and the Sheriff's Boot Camp). Watch as she talks at length about the last priority and emphasizes that back-end support for the formerly incarcerated should be a key component of any strategy to limit the county's jail population. It's a point she's been making for months:

For more depth, you can check out Preckwinkle's recent sit-down with Jeff Berkowitz, who has also interviewed incumbent Todd Stroger and challengers Terry O'Brien and Dorothy Brown.

Sun-Times Adds Voice To Tamms Debate

Adam Doster — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:58:56 -0700

By acknowledging that changes need to be made at the Tamms supermax facility in southern Illinois and outlining reforms to mitigate some of the prison's worst practices, the Department of Correction's interim director Michael Randle took an important first step to ensure human rights are upheld in Illinois. Still, the most vocal critics of the prison think that Randle's review overlooked some key problems in his review. And the Sun-Times agrees. Today, the editorial board emphasized that Randle and the state legislature have more work to do to address the facility's flawed review process and the way it houses and treats mentally ill inmates. Here's an excerpt:

Randle's reforms, laudable as they are, fall short because they rely on the good faith and professionalism of the director and his department to carry them out. They are not codified in the law, which would assure they remain in effect long after Randle and Gov. Quinn have moved on. Nor are they spelled out in the state's administrative code, which would give them the strength and protection of legislative oversight.

Randle's reforms do little to beef up the cursory quality of quarterly reviews conducted by prison staff to determine whether an inmate should remain at Tamms. The proof that such reviews are inadequate is in the numbers -- 194 prisoners have been at Tamms for at least five years, many of them unnecessarily so. When prison officials, at Randle's direction, finally began conducting special reviews of these 194 cases, they quickly identified at least 45 inmates they felt confident could be returned to less restrictive prisons -- and the special reviews continue.

Easily the biggest problem at Tamms, addressed only in part by Randle's reforms, is mental illness among inmates. The very actions that can land an inmate in Tamms, such as attacking a guard, can be signs of mental illness, and the intense social isolation of a supermax prison only exacerbates the problem. The solution to the problem, unfortunately, is undoubtedly expensive and politically unpopular, beginning with a dramatic increase in mental health services in our prisons and communities.

The paper also praises Sen. Dick Durbin for chairing a hearing last week in D.C. on mental illness in U.S. prisons. It's time state legislators do the same.