Investigations
Federal Judge Orders Most of Stateville Prison Population to be Transferred by End of September
Stateville Correctional Center is pictured in a file photo. (Andrew Campbell / Capitol News Illinois)
Illinois prison officials must transfer most people incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center by Sept. 30, according to a new order from a federal judge.
The court filed the preliminary injunction order Friday, with Judge Andrea R. Wood writing that the court found a probable risk of irreparable harm from falling concrete attributed to the deteriorated masonry walls, ceilings, steel beams and window lintels at Stateville.
“The Court further finds that the public interest and the balancing of harms justify a preliminary injunction requiring the Illinois Department of Corrections to relocate the class members who remain housed in the general housing units at Stateville,” Wood writes.
The order puts a more concrete timeline to the prison closure process that state officials proposed early this year, closing Stateville and rebuilding the prison on the same Crest Hill property. Previously, IDOC officials had not set an exact date for when incarcerated people were to be transferred.
IDOC previously indicated it would not begin to wind down operations at Stateville until at least 180 days from the time it officially filed its notice of the closure. That would put the wind-down date at Sept. 13.
“The Department did not oppose the preliminary injunction entered on Friday, and our anticipated timeline for transfers is in line with the order issued by the court,” an IDOC spokesperson said in a statement.
“Our priority is ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of everyone involved during the transfer process, along with a smooth transition to the new facility when the time comes,” the statement continued.
The proposed closure also includes Logan Correctional Center, which according to the proposal would also be built on Stateville’s property. The rebuilds could take about five years. The state allocated $900 million for the rebuild of the two prisons in the 2025 budget.
But state officials tasked with reviewing the state’s plans to close and rebuild the prisons said they’re “far from shovel-ready.”
According to Friday’s order, those housed in Stateville’s Healthcare Unit do not need to be transferred, as it’s a separate housing building that “does not exhibit the risks of falling concrete that exists in the general housing units.”
Friday’s order comes after civil rights law firm Loevy and Loevy filed a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to immediately transfer incarcerated people housed at Stateville out of the facility last month. Plaintiffs currently at the facility detailed concrete falling from ceilings and nailed-shut windows, broken industrial fans and little ventilation.
The move is part of Dobbey v. Weilding, an ongoing class action lawsuit over conditions at Stateville that Loevy and Loevy has been litigating since 2013.
In June, a man incarcerated at Stateville, Michael Broadway, died in custody during some of the hottest days that month. His autopsy has not yet been released. But men incarcerated at the facility have told WTTW News that conditions at the facility have not changed since his death: little ventilation and heat staying trapped inside.
In a statement, a spokesperson for AFSCME Council 31, the union that represents most employees within IDOC, said they’re “examining all options to prevent that disruption in response to this precipitous ruling.”
“The closure of Stateville would cause immense disruption to the state prison system, its employees, individuals in custody and their families,” he continued.
In a message to WTTW News, plaintiff Abdul Malik Muhammad said this move is “great news.”
Note: Loevy and Loevy has done legal work for WTTW News.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
