I have finally got my case into court. We have moved past the Merit Hearing. Southern Illinois District Judge Michael J. Reagan issued his Memorandum and Order on the Harris-vs-Director Baldwin, et al., 18-cv-0711-MJ-RJD on December 19, 2018. He then handed the case down to Magistrate Judge Reona J. Daly. Latest Court Action.
So I immediately filed a Motion to Serve Defendants at Government Expense…
…Then I filed the Declaration to set the Record straight in the case. For again, Judge Reagan held the Merit Hearing without letting myself, the Plaintiff, the pro se prisoner, be present or be heard and defend his claim. This is a mistake, a power play by the Judge, to dismiss as many claims as possible. So if you think the pro se prisoner is not treated unfairly then let me explain the history in this case.
In the November 1, 2011, the Illinois Department of Correction (IDOC) agreed to disband the Level System put in place by impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich, and Director Donald Snyder. The system was in place to set a structure where the prisoner was sent to and subjected to harsher conditions of confinement based on the crime and amount of time he had to serve. But it is illegal to further punish the prisoner once he is sent to prison. The act of imprisonment is the punishment.
By getting rid of the Level System, the IDOC returned to the three sets of prison facilities: maximum security prisons, medium security prisons and minimum security prisons.
If one will review the Administrative Directive 05.06.110 signed by Director Godinez on November 1, 2011, you will find the system of levels was disbanded, and the three prior classifications of the prisoner were returned as policy. But the IDOC did not do what they agreed to do. The Level System remained in place.
Medium Security Prisons
Let me explain: each type of prison has its rules and regulations. For example, at the Graham Correctional Center, Danville Correctional Center or the Centralia Correctional Center, all classified as medium security prisons, the prisoner housed there is given a key to his cell door. He may enter and leave that cell most of the day. That prisoner is released to dayroom, yard, gym, phones, showers and laundry machines during the shift of 7 am to 3 pm and then during the shift of 3 pm to 11 pm. Only during chow lines and count time is this medium-classified prisoner locked in his cell. Then they are out of the cell ten to twelve hours a day.
Shawnee Correctional Center – Level Two Prison
However, the medium security Shawnee Correctional Center, where I am housed, was classified as a “Level Two” prison where the prisoner was subjected to harsher conditions, more like conditions in a maximum security prison. This was supposed to stop during the new directive, but it has not. Even though the prisoners here are classified as medium-security prisoners, they are subjected to discriminatory housing and treatment conditions without justification by law.
At Shawnee the prisoner is denied a key to his cell. The prisoner is given a schedule that rotates on the odd and even number days. During that time he is given gym, yard, dayroom, showers and access to phones to contact family. Odd days the lower deck receives 8 am to 9 am dayroom—just one hour. At night the lower deck is given 8:25 to 9:30 pm dayroom—just one hour and five minutes. So on that day the prisoner is locked in his cell twenty-one hours and fifty-five minutes. On the even days the schedule flips. The lower deck given from 12:30 to 2:30 pm out-of-cell time. Yard and gym lines are scheduled during this time.
On the night shift the lower deck is given from 7 to 8:10 pm dayroom time—one hour and ten minutes. So on the even days the prisoners have three hours and ten minutes out of their cells. The prisoner is locked in his cell twenty hours and fifty minutes on the even day. All yard and gym lines are run during the dayroom schedule.
Gym is scheduled for fifty minutes and yard is scheduled for fifty minutes during the dayroom schedule. But the Shawnee Administration allows the Union Security Staff to cut these lines each day to thirty minutes—maybe forty minutes on a good day.
So I pose the question, “Why is the prisoner classified as medium or minimum security housed at Shawnee subjected to this harsher conditions of confinement?”
At the other medium security prisons, prisoners have access to the commissary weekly. At Shawnee you can only shop once or twice a month. There is also a one-hundred-fifty-dollar limit imposed on commissary purchases which is not in place at Danville, Graham or Centralia.
Shawnee is used as the prison where a jailhouse lawyer like myself is sent to punish him for exercising his First Amendment right to challenge prison policy—an illegal act.
Now Judge Reagan is an “administration-friendly” judge. But I fought him tooth and nail to get this case heard. I was shipped to Shawnee because of my civil suit action about the soy-based diet being fed to the Illinois male prisoner population. At the time, I was at the Danville Correctional Center. I got a ticket for rule violation, which called for this transfer, but they were expunged. But I was sent to Shawnee anyway—hence this lawsuit.
I am arguing that it is discriminatory policy to allow the IDOC to treat the medium security prisoners differently, keeping the Level System in place.
Judge Reagan did not want to let this be heard, but under the 14th Amendment the Level System is illegal. All medium prisoners must be treated the same. Punishment can only be given after the prisoner has received a ticket for a rule violation and then given a hearing in front of the Prison Adjustment Committee to determine whether the prisoner is guilty and punishment to be imposed.
I want to be heard on why I am locked in the cell all day, treated differently with rules and sanctions that other medium prisoners are not subject to.
Unconstitutional Conditions of Confinement
Then we have the unconstitutional conditions of confinement here—broken windows, and screens with large holes in them, windows screwed shut during winter months denying fresh air to the men. The mattresses are in filthy condition and not replaced. The kitchen conditions are unhealthy. Paint is peeling off the cell walls. We have no hot water in the showers after the first few men get in and a ventilation system so dirty it is not run.
The Court Case
So this is an interesting case where the prisoner is bringing a claim the court does not want to hear. They do not want to open these claims, they do not want to address equal treatment under the law and stop the retaliation on the jailhouse lawyers exercising their First Amendment Rights to challenge prison policy. That is the case in a nutshell.
I will keep you updated.
