Crime & Law
‘Left Behind to Die’: Last Men Incarcerated at Stateville Prison Allege Neglect in Lawsuit
In August, a federal judge ordered that most of Stateville Correctional Center’s population be transferred to other prisons due to derelict conditions.
But one section was excluded because it “does not exhibit the risks of falling concrete that exists in the general housing units”: the health care unit.
In a letter to WTTW News, one of the men incarcerated there said they were told they’d be housed in that unit for two to four months to receive medical care, with some needing dialysis.
But five months later, some of the last 21 men still housed there are living in what another man described as “third-world conditions.”
The men wrote that they’re “kept in cells under segregation conditions with no recreational activities” and outside time “consisting of simply going outside being yard statues or ornaments” without weights or basketball courts. They don’t have a law library, educational programs or time in the chapel. And they’re getting the same food for lunch and dinner up to three days in a row, with some meals not medically prescribed.
“We are not hospice. We simply have kidney failure,” wrote William Jenkins, who has been incarcerated in the unit for six months. “This should be illegal.”
Disability rights group Equip for Equality filed a lawsuit against Latoya Hughes, acting director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, alleging that she violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act by holding the men inside in “unduly restrictive and isolating conditions compared to prisoners without disabilities, because of their disabilities.” The lawsuit also alleges she deprived the men inside of programs otherwise available because of their disabilities.
The Illinois Department of Corrections did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit alleges one man died since these men were left in the facility after Stateville was otherwise closed. Witnesses said they saw staff disregard his urgent medical needs for the hours leading to his death, according to the lawsuit. A week later, two individuals heard staff laughing about the man’s absence, joking that he was “on a permanent writ,” the lawsuit continues.
“There’s no reason to operate this unit as a maximum security segregation unit,” Amanda Antholt, a managing attorney at Equip for Equality, said. “If IDOC is going to staff this facility and keep it running while it begins the new construction, then why isn’t it running for the individuals in custody?”
In a complaint provided to WTTW News, Andrew Waldrop wrote that he has faced denial and discrimination by IDOC under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. He alleges that due to him being on dialysis and “stuck in a box,” there is a lack of education programs, mental health classes and access to the chapel. In turn, he said, he can’t earn good time credits to shorten his sentence.
“I should be allowed the same privileges as other prisoners,” Waldrop wrote. “I shouldn’t be discriminated against due to being on dialysis.”
The counselor’s response on the complaint states “deemed not ADA per ADA coordinator.”
The transfers of men in September were part of the state’s efforts to close — and eventually rebuild — the prison, along with Logan Correctional Center, which houses women. The rebuilds could take about five years. The state allocated $900 million for the rebuild of the two prisons in the 2025 budget.
The decision to close and rebuild Stateville came after Illinois commissioned a report that found the nearly 100-year-old facility is “not suitable for any 21st century correctional center.” The property also houses the Northern Reception and Classification Center, which is the major adult male intake and processing unit for the entire state, as well as a minimum security unit. Both will stay open throughout the construction.
In November 2024, the lawsuit states, a court-appointed independent monitor reported that “the infirmary unit at Stateville is unfit for housing medical patients” and recommended that it “should also be closed” with the rest of the prison. That monitor came out of the consent decree to overhaul IDOC’s health care system from the lawsuit Lippert v. Jeffreys.
Men Report Living in Isolation
The Equip for Equality lawsuit alleges men sit in locked cells for up to 24 hours a day.
They no longer have access to the dining hall, barber shop, commissary, law library, jobs, school or a day room, the suit alleges. Those left behind compare their living conditions to being in solitary confinement, according to the lawsuit. And the isolation takes a toll on both their mental and physical health, with men noticing the development of depression and paranoia symptoms and a diminishment of mobility and strength.
“Those abandoned in the Stateville infirmary when the rest of the facility closed feel that they have been left behind to die,” the lawsuit states.
Inside the cell, it’s cold, Waldrop wrote in a letter to WTTW News. There’s no shelf for a TV or desk, he added. Sometimes, he said, they get the same food for lunch and dinner two or three days in a row. He said he’s getting his medical needs met, but care providers are “slow dragging on giving [him] the continuous glucose monitor and insulin pump.”
Individuals inside regularly see flies, centipedes and cockroaches in treatment spaces, the lawsuit states, and the dialysis room is cluttered and dirty. The showers are not regularly cleaned, vents in the cells are clogged with dirt, and the water coming from sinks is often a brownish color, with water bottle delivery sporadic, the suit continues.
Loved ones of those inside said this isolation extends to communication as well.
Christina Borizov said she’s been left in the dark as to why her son Johnny has been incarcerated inside the health care unit. He has a long list of medical conditions that she said his incarceration has contributed to: severe diabetes, chronic kidney disease and hypothyroidism to name some. But, she said, he was only transferred to the unit in September as the wave of Stateville transfers began.
While in the unit, Borizov said, he has not gotten proper medical care. His appointments with outside hospitals have been canceled — she said without reason. One time, when he did have an appointment for a colonoscopy at a hospital, she said, he was told upon arrival the procedure couldn’t be done because the prison did not prepare him properly.
When he’s been sent to the hospital, Borizov said, IDOC has not notified her. Instead, she finds out through IDOC’s Individual in Custody Search that lists him as being on “medical furlough.”
Borizov said she’s written letters to IDOC officials and the lieutenant governor, called Stateville and officials in Springfield to ask why men are still in the health care unit. If she does get a response, it’s that “they don’t know.”
“My health is deteriorating because all I do is think about: How is he?” Borizov said. “Is he still making it through? Am I going to hear something bad? But usually … they never call you.”
Contact Blair Paddock: @blairpaddock | [email protected]
