Civil rights attorneys launched a coordinated legal challenge Thursday to demand the swift release of Illinois prisoners most vulnerable to the coronavirus, accusing Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other state leaders of putting the general public at risk.
The effort includes a proposed class-action lawsuit filed Thursday morning in federal court, naming Pritzker and Rob Jeffreys, director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, as defendants. Ten IDOC prisoners are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Attorneys also filed paperwork Thursday morning seeking a temporary or preliminary order moving prisoners to their homes to self-isolate in a medical furlough.
The plaintiff inmates are serving sentences for crimes ranging from murder to drug offenses, prison records show. The lawsuit alleges most of them have underlying health problems.
“To effectively prevent the continued spread of the COVID-19 infection in prison communities, the state must take urgent steps to release, furlough, or transfer to home detention all that qualify under the law, and particularly those who are elderly and medically vulnerable,” the lawsuit states.
It adds: “Class members who are elderly and medically vulnerable, and those with pathways to release, must be released now.”
IDOC and the governor’s office did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Though the coronavirus outbreak has largely halted Chicago’s federal courts since mid-March, emergency judges are available to hear urgent matters, and some court business is being handled electronically.
The lawsuit largely points to Stateville Correctional Center, which announced its first confirmed coronavirus case March 25. Five days later, it said St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet was “overwhelmed” by inmates suffering from the effects of the virus.
The Illinois National Guard sent 30 service members to help with medical care at Stateville. One inmate there has already died from the coronavirus.
There are 52 Illinois prisoners with confirmed cases of the virus, and 187 additional prisoners who have been tested and are awaiting results, records show.
“The actual number of individuals with COVID-19 in IDOC is likely much higher,” the lawsuit said.
Advocates sent a letter to Pritzker on March 17 seeking the release of individuals “who can be released from custody in a way that is consistent with public safety,” according to the complaint. It also alleges that, even before the outbreak, “IDOC’s medical care program was ill-equipped to meet the medical needs of prisoners in its care.”
Attorneys and advocates involved in the effort include the Loevy & Loevy law firm, the Uptown People’s Law Center, the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, Black Lives Matter Chicago, the Chicago Torture Justice Center and the Community Justice & Civil Rights Clinic at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. The group has announced a Thursday afternoon news conference to discuss the lawsuit.
They also filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court and promised a direct petition to the Illinois Supreme Court.
