Crime & Law
Amid Concerns Over Paper, Illinois Prisons Would Be Able to Electronically Scan Mail Under New Contract
(WTTW News)
For months, state lawmakers, correctional workers and those incarcerated have been raising the alarm over the future of physical mail in Illinois Department of Corrections facilities.
At issue is concerns over drug exposures tied to physical mail and whether paper should be digitally scanned for incarcerated people. That debate may be over as IDOC signed a contract in October that will give the department the ability to scan physical mail and deliver digital copies, according to the contract obtained by WTTW News through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The contract with ICSolutions, a telecommunications company for correctional facilities across the U.S., states that tablets will be supplied to those in prison with “all necessary hardware, software, and functionalities pre-installed to enable secure and reliable delivery of digital correspondence and mail through the tablet on an individual basis.”
“The contractor warrants that the Illinois Department of Corrections will be capable of scanning and digitally delivering the mail to the population on an individual basis, and this functionality and capability requires no additional purchases or procurements from the Contractor,” it states.
But while the technology includes digital mail-scanning capabilities, “how this functionality will be utilized is still being determined and IDOC is committed to continued dialog with key stakeholders on this issue,” IDOC spokesperson Naomi Puzzello said in a statement.
“With the implementation of this initiative, individuals in custody will have enhanced opportunities to communicate with family and friends at a reduced cost on video and telephone calls, while also expanding access to additional digital services, resources and educational tools,” the statement continues.
Illinois state Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro), who worked in corrections for 20 years, said she was told by IDOC about a month ago that the contract would be fully implemented in seven months. She said her office also had to submit a FOIA request to receive a copy.
The change comes as correctional workers and some lawmakers have said there’s been an influx of drugs into IDOC facilities through physical mail, exposing people inside.
Bryant has been visiting correctional centers across the state to assess the situation, which she said seems to be “getting worse and worse” — “how they’re handling it, how the media was ignoring it, how the staff was begging for help and the inmates.”
AFSCME Council 31, the union that represents most employees within IDOC, put out a recent report on an “explosion in illegal drug use” in state prisons. The report states that paper entering facilities through mail is sprayed with synthetic drugs.
The union did not respond to a request for comment on the new service contract.
WTTW News has asked IDOC for data on drug-related incidents and offenses, but has not received a response.
Jennifer Vollen-Katz, executive director of the prison watchdog group the John Howard Association, said she does think there’s reason to be concerned about drug use in prisons, but there’s missing information. She said there’s little known about the testing of paper and what it’s testing positive for. There’s also a lack of public data from IDOC around contraband in prisons, she added.
“We have poorly defined the problem and we’re trying to solve it, you know, with a blunt force approach,” Vollen-Katz said.
Vollen-Katz said states that have switched to scanned mail haven’t solved their drug issues. For example, in Pennsylvania, where the rate of random positive drug tests among incarcerated people doubled the rate it was before the mail scanning system went into effect.
Bryant said solving the drug issue isn’t just about scanning mail — another issue is correctional staff having the ability to bring in their own containers of food.
Raul Dorado, currently incarcerated at Danville Correctional Center, said in a message to WTTW News that there’s no serious efforts to search staff for contraband prior to entering each facility. He said while he was at Stateville Correctional Center during “complete quarantine lockdown,” there were more cellphones, drugs and other contraband found than at any other time” during his time incarcerated.
“However, they conveniently omit this fact during their efforts to ban paper mail and go electronic,” he wrote.
The contract also includes usage rates for communications, the lowest for “inmate calling (U.S.)” at .007 cents per minute up to email/text messaging for .15 cents per message. Vollen-Katz said while she would prefer communication to be free, the usage rate is favorable compared to other jurisdictions.
The contract outlines “one tablet for each inmate,” which Vollen-Katz said could provide greater access to support systems for incarcerated people through messaging or phone calls. She said she hopes the tablets aren’t used to scan mail, as physical paper mail brings incarcerated people a sense of connection to their support systems.
Contact Blair Paddock: @blairpaddock | [email protected]
