Category: IDOC
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No action in January expected
Rumors still persist within IDOC that the MGT suspension will be lifted this month. We remind readers that the argument that IL prisons are overcrowded, that the IL budget is overdrawn, and that the ratio of correctional officers to prisoners is dangerously out-of-proportion, and that something has to be done; those are all true. but…
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Remember: Just Because a New Year Cometh…
With the inauguration of Govenor Quinn approaching on January 10, 2011, rumors are swirling around Illinois prisons that his first official act as governor will be to lift the MGT suspension. The argument that IL prisons are overcrowded, that the IL budget is overdrawn, and that the ratio of correctional officers to prisoners is dangerously…
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Suddenly, Winnebago County is talking Cents!
Oh yeah, suddenly, Joe Bruscato, the Winnebago County State’s Attorney and Winnebago County are seeing the light; that it makes more sense to consider sentencing alternatives and defer prosecution of first-time, non-violent offenders than to stuff the Winnebago County jail with them. Well, we guess, it is better for them to come to their senses…
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Largely Unreported – The Georgia Prison Strike
On December 9, 2010, thousands of prisoners in at least 10 Georgia state prisons peacefully “went on strike”, refusing to leave their cells to report to work and other daily activities while calling for reforms in jail conditions and medical treatment. The prison strike was organized by inmates using cell phones purchased from guards extended…
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Winnebago County Jail to add two-bed cells to ease crunch – Rockford, IL – Rockford Register Star
ROCKFORD — More inmates will find themselves with roommates in the Winnebago County Criminal Justice Center as the Sheriff’s Department aims to trim $2 million from its corrections budget while wrestling with a jail population that’s nearing 1,000. The county bought 112 new jail beds for $4,553 on Nov. 23 at the request of Sheriff…
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Books on tape and behind bars – CNN
To the special-education students at a Frontera high school, Tracy Morales is a voice offering access to whole new worlds. Her taped book readings, played in class, have made the adventures of a frontier dog come alive in “White Fang.” Students have learned about the horror of a boot at the door, of a short…
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A Solitary Jailhouse Lawyer Argues His Way Out of Prison – WSJ.com
By SEAN GARDINER Each morning for 5,546 days, Jabbar Collins knew exactly what he’d wear when he awoke: a dark-green shirt with matching dark-green pants. The prison greenies of a convicted murderer, he says, were “overly starched in the beginning, but as time wore on, and after repeated washes, they were worn and dull, like…
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Felon who claims Chicago cop abused him to coerce false testimony at heart of convicted murderer’s bid for new trial – chicagotribune.com
By Matthew Walberg, Tribune reporter December 25, 2010 A Chicago police officer and the convicted felon he is alleged to have coerced and bribed into giving false testimony are the heart of Armando Serrano’s bid for freedom, according to a Northwestern University Law School attorney and a journalism professor trying to win him a new…
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Union irked after prison not sold
THOMSON, Ill. — What’s next for the Thomson Correctional Center? No one bought the state prison at an auction Tuesday. That’s good news to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which wants to purchase the facility. That’s bad news to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — the state’s largest public employee union…
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Workers filing for compensation at Menard prison
CHESTER, Ill. — Workers at the Menard Correctional Center in southern Illinois received more than $1.5 million in workers compensation settlements for injuries to their hands, wrists and elbows, according to public records. Guards say the injuries were caused by repetitive actions, like locking and unlocking cells, The Belleville News-Democrat reported Monday. The newspaper cited…