Since 2018, the Dixon Brotherhood Reunion has brought together formerly incarcerated men. The event was born out of a need to network for jobs and housing and to build social connections that weren’t centered around funerals.

“Right now, there’s over 420 residents at Stateville who are at risk of dire injury due to the structural vulnerabilities, degradation and deterioration of those buildings that put them at risk of serious physical injury,” said Heather Lewis Donnell, a partner at Loevy and Loevy.

Relatives and friends are questioning the circumstances surrounding the death of 51-year-old Michael Broadway. An IDOC spokesperson said the agency is “actively investigating.”

Black people in Illinois are incarcerated at a rate seven and a half times higher than their White counterparts, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. And the national incarceration rate of Black people is six times the rate of White people.

The circumstances around his death have left friends, family and others incarcerated at Stateville questioning the sequence of events around his medical treatment. Friends who witnessed his death last week said he “didn’t have to die.”

Hundreds gathered at hearings this week to voice concerns over Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration’s plans to close and rebuild Logan and Stateville correctional centers. At a Friday meeting, one state lawmaker said, “This is really a concept and not a plan … because a plan has details.”

Hundreds of people gathered Tuesday night to try to sway a vote by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) over Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration’s recommendation to close and rebuild Stateville Correctional Center.

Benard McKinley is preparing to begin law school at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law. He graduated from college while serving 22 years in prison for a crime he committed when he was 16 years old. 

Illinois legislators this week approved a bill to restructure an oversight board in charge of distributing state money to courts that provide prison alternatives, while other criminal justice measures introduced throughout the session remain stalled.

In the last 20 years, Illinois has released a spate of inmates who were wrongfully convicted, some after it was determined they were tortured into giving confessions. In fact, the state was faced with so many claims of torture that it created the Torture Relief and Inquiry Commission in 2009.

Top officials with the Illinois Department of Corrections testified in front of a key panel of state lawmakers. Gov. J.B. Pritzker previously announced a plan to close Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill and Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln.

Appointee Jim Montgomery will be responsible for overseeing administrative board operations, including bolstering domestic violence prevention training and “other important equity-based trainings for board members,” according to the governor’s office. 

“It’s one thing to say that I think the judgment was in error,” Donald Shelton said in an exclusive interview with WTTW News. “It’s another thing to say that there was a lack of concern for a victim of domestic violence.”

The killing of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins is drawing attention to a small state board responsible for deciding when prisoners can be released on parole.

Housing at Stateville Correctional Center is “not suitable for any 21st century correctional center.” Logan Correctional Center is “inefficient, ineffective, and unsuitable for any population.”

An independent report identified Illinois’ Stateville and Logan prisons as outdated and in need of costly repairs.