FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 2, 2020
CONTACT:
Amanda Antholt, Equip for Equality, 312.895.7330, Amanda@equipforequality.org
Sarah Grady, Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law, 312.243.5900, sarah@loevy.com
Sheila A. Bedi, Community Justice & Civil Rights Clinic, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, 202.320.3435, sheila.bedi@law.northwestern.edu
Jessey Neves, Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, 562.453.6342, jessey.neves@macarthurjustice.org
Alan Mills, Uptown People’s Law Center, alan@uplcchicago.org
Megan Groves, Uptown People’s Law Center, Megan@uplcchicago.org
Andy Thayer, Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law, 773.209.1187, andy@loevy.com
Class Action Suit vs. Gov. Pritzker & IDOC:
Swiftly Release Prisoners Most Vulnerable to Pandemic
1:30 PM press conference today via Zoom at this link: https://zoom.us/j/842861761
- To access captioning for today’s press conference, please follow along at this link: https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=COVID_IDOC
Facebook livestream at https://www.facebook.com/UptownPeoplesLawCenter/
WHAT: In response to the swiftly spreading coronavirus epidemic in Illinois’ prisons, a consortium of the area’s leading civil rights attorneys and community advocates today filed three cases seeking release of prisoners: a federal class action suit against the Governor and Illinois Department of Corrections; a federal habeus corpus action; and a direct action to the Illinois Supreme Court.
All three cases demand the swift release of those prisoners most vulnerable to the epidemic before they fall victim to it.
By dragging its feet in the face of the pandemic, IDOC and Illinois’ political leaders are putting prisoners, prison staff and the general public at greater risk of severe illness and death. One prisoner is already dead, and 7 are on life support. Prisons, with their tightly packed populations, confined spaces, and lack of sanitation are petri dishes for spreading deadly epidemics.
Prison staff exposed to such conditions can easily cause explosive outbreaks in their communities. Elderly prisoners and those with underlying health conditions are being punished by confinement, not given likely death sentences.
Copies of the Federal complaint and its attachments can be found here and here. Links to the Petitions that will be filed in Federal Court and in the Illinois Supreme Court will be sent out later this morning.
WHEN: 1:30 PM, Thursday, April 2, 2020 press conference.
WHERE: Zoom, at this link: https://zoom.us/j/842861761. Facebook, view-only live-stream available at the following page: https://www.facebook.com/UptownPeoplesLawCenter/.
WHO: People with loved ones inside IDOC; attorneys and advocates with Black Lives Matter Chicago, Chicago Torture Justice Center, Community Justice & Civil Rights Clinic at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Equip For Equality, Illinois Prison Project, Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law, Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, and Uptown People’s Law Center.
