(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Civil-rights attorneys launched a coordinated legal challenge Thursday to demand the swift release of roughly 13,000 Illinois prisoners most vulnerable to the coronavirus.
The effort includes a proposed class-action lawsuit filed in federal court, naming Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Rob Jeffreys, director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, as defendants. Ten IDOC prisoners are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
“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.
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.
Proponents of the plan to release inmates say the state's crowded prisons will become hotbeds of infection. Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill already has experienced an outbreak; one inmate has died, officials said.
At his daily press briefing, the governor said inmates can't simply be released without having somewhere to go.
"You can't just release them on the street and have them become homeless immediately, and we also want to do a medical check,” he said.
Pritzker added his administration is working as quickly as possible under permissive guidelines.
In a statement, Illinois prison officials said the department has prioritized the safety and security of its population and staff during the current pandemic.
"Our efforts include spending weeks diligently reviewing the incarcerated population for release through statutorily permissive methods," the statement says. "So far, approximately 350 people have been released, including pregnant women and women who have recently given birth."