Stories by Blair Paddock

“Gender roles have converged in the workplace,” author Corinne Low said. “They haven’t converged in the home.”

Seven current and formerly incarcerated women filed federal lawsuits over the last week alleging sexual assault, harassment and institutional retaliation at Illinois’ primary women’s prison, Logan Correctional Center.

The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules objected to the Illinois Department of Corrections’ emergency rule allowing facilities to electronically scan mail. The objection does not stop the department’s emergency rule, which paves the way for IDOC facilities to transition to scanning incarcerated peoples’ mail, instead of giving them physical mail.

An about-face from President Donald Trump as he focuses on a new city to send the National Guard to. And protests continue as immigration enforcement ramps up.

The change comes after debate over the safety of physical mail. IDOC states that these emergency rules are intended to prevent the smuggling of contraband and hazardous substances into correctional facilities.

Lockdowns can be indistinguishable from solitary confinement-like conditions, with those incarcerated given little yard time and limited access to educational programming and commissary.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office in western Illinois has transferred at least two men into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, in apparent violation of the state’s TRUST and Way Forward Act, according to a lawyer who helped provide technical support for the legislation.

As the nearly 100-year-old Cook County Jail dormitories were demolished in 2021, artist Maria Gaspar was able to salvage 18 cell bars and a couple of bricks.

Many who’ve been through restrictive housing attest to extreme isolation and confinement in small, dark, windowless cells. Phone and tablet use can be restricted. Yard or outside time is limited.

Three eggs of piping plovers Imani and Sea Rocket hatched as of Friday at Montrose Beach, according to monitoring group Chicago Piping Plovers.

An extreme heat warning has been issued for Cook County from Saturday through Monday. Afternoon temperatures are predicted to be in the 90s. Coupled with high humidity, heat indices could reach 100-105 degrees each day, according to the National Weather Service.

According to agreements obtained by WTTW News, the Illinois State Police has shared data with ICE through its statewide computer system since 2008, including criminal history data and its gang member file, which could contain citizenship information, according to the LEADS manual.

Every year, incarcerated people in Illinois file post-conviction petitions, compiling evidence of police misconduct, violations of constitutional rights or claims of actual innocence. It’s a vital tool for those alleging injustice to get a new trial or be resentenced.

Several family members and advocates with loved ones incarcerated in prisons across Illinois told WTTW News that their in-person visits have been canceled by the Illinois Department of Corrections due to short staffing or lockdowns. Those visits are crucial for those inside and their loved ones, serving as a connection to the outside world and relationships.

“Housing is obviously unaffordable for everyone, but it is especially the case for people who have records,” said Ahmadou Dramé, director of the Illinois Justice Project. “Without a stable place to live, you can’t begin to triage all the other challenges that a person has to be navigating.”

After 12 years, the class action lawsuit over living conditions at Stateville Correctional Center that helped bring the prison to a close was settled Thursday.

Uptown People’s Law Center and Equip for Equality filed a class action lawsuit against IDOC Director Latoya Hughes on behalf of the nearly 13,000 people with mental illness in the state’s prisons — approximately 44% of the population.

The last men incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center have been transferred out of the aging facility as of Monday, bringing the 100-year-old prison to a close, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Disability rights group Equip for Equality filed a motion Thursday for a preliminary injunction to immediately transfer the last 12 men incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center out of the facility.

Illinois’ prison population continues to shrink, with facilities now having a 26% vacancy rate, leading some of those inside and their advocates to question the state’s plan to build two new prisons.

Disability rights group Equip for Equality filed a lawsuit alleging the men still incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center are living in “unduly restrictive and isolating conditions compared to prisoners without disabilities, because of their disabilities.”

Those who advocate for the restorative justice model say reducing the types of cases that are referred would cut back on the rehabilitation opportunities. The State’s Attorney’s Office says they prefer alternative approaches that move away from the peace circle and instead toward gun education and a path toward FOID cards.

“We thought the best way to get into the conversation was to bypass all of the stereotypical conversations that people imagine having with people serving long-term sentences and really dive into questions that no one asks them,” said Melissa Lorraine, director and co-founding artistic director of Theatre Y.

Correctional workers and Republican lawmakers have said exposure to synthetic cannabinoids in IDOC facilities has led to hospital visits and impacted prisons across the state. One man incarcerated at Hill Correctional Center said moving away from paper mail would have “devastating consequences.”

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.

Mayor Johnson says alderpeople should stop throwing tantrums and start negotiating the budget seriously. And disgraced former Ald. Danny Solis takes the stand in Michael Madigan’s historic corruption trial.