Shawnee Administration

I have filed a Mandamus Petition in the Vienna, Illinois Circuit Court, THE First Judicial Circuit for Johnson County, Illinois. The case is Harris-vs-Warden Dennison, et. al., 2018-MR-97 and involves a Petition I filed to get a Mandamus Order by the Court forcing the Shawnee Administrators, the Wardens and Majors, to correct the dangerous conditions of confinement in place at the Shawnee Correctional Center

I filed my Petition on September 18th, 2018. I paid the filing fee up front.  The Defendants were served. They were then immediately given free legal representation by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Summons were served on October 2nd, 2018, but the case has been continued (delayed, held over) several times by Assistant Attorney General Adam Lipetz until January 3rd, 2019. (All State Employees get free legal aid from Illinois Attorney General’s Office.)

It is a simple petition requesting that the Wardens and Majors require their Union Security Staff do their required job in order to stop the dangerous conditions of confinement that have developed in the Shawnee Correctional Center. I have requested:

  1. Repair the panic button, emergency button, in each cell so they work and allow prisoners locked in their cells to notify staff in case of emergency. They were disconnected because they woke the staff sleeping in the control booth—yes, sleeping on the job. But if a prisoner has a medical emergency or is attacked after the cell is locked, he has no way of notifying the guards.
  2. Require the Guard House cell wing officer to stay on his wing assignment and not to stay in the control booth or foyer area. Let me explain: there are two plate glass walls between the wing cells and the control booth. When a prisoner needs the officer for a medical emergency there is no way to get his attention. There is a yellow area taped off at the front of every wing. It is here the wing officer is to be seated and to do a walk around the top and bottom deck every half hour. If the prisoner in the cell needs help from staff there is no way to get the attention of the wing guard sitting in the control booth, where he is playing cards or sleeping. There are two prisoners in a cell at Shawnee. If a prisoner is attacked by his celly he has no hope of getting help. If he cannot fight off the attack, he will be the victim of rape or beating if he cannot fight off the attack. Since the Wardens and Majors running Shawnee turn a blind eye to the dangerous situation one must seek redress in a court of law.
  3. The guards stay in the control booth and punish the whole cell block prisoner body when one guy fails to follow their order to lock up. They are too lazy to come out of the bubble to get the guy’s I.D. Card and write the ticket. This is a very dangerous practice for it might cause the other prisoners to go after the prisoner getting them punished. This results in prisoner-on-prisoner assaults. It can lead to gang activity and general hatred toward the lazy officer punishing everyone for his own inept actions of remaining in the control booth instead of on his job assignment. It’s a bad business all the way around, creating a dangerous environment not corrected by the Shawnee Administration.

So watch the Shawnee mandamus action in the Vienna, Illinois First Judicial Circuit. It is an interesting petition that I have filed.

UPDATE

On March 27th, 2019, I was given a transfer to the East Moline Correctional Center, a minimum security facility. Everything I had petitioned for at Shawnee I now have—it is a far better place to reside.

The Mandamus Petition I filed is now moot—no longer an issue. As I am no longer housed at Shawnee Correctional Center, the Petition has no standing. I think this is why the IDOC bosses in Springfield finally got right with me. For transferring me to a minimum security prison killed the issues in court.

But I still have the Harris-vs-Director Baldwin, et al, 3:18-cv-0711-SMY-RJD lawsuit in place on the conditions of confinement I was subjected to illegally for many years. So that dog still hunts there. Now as a minimum security prisoner, I am housed at a minimum security prison. No more retaliation for my legal activities—I hope!

Author: Larry Harris

My name is Larry “Rocky” Harris and I am serving a sixty-five year prison term in the state of Illinois for a crime I didn’t commit. After I went to prison, I began to study the law, and now I am what is called a “prison lawyer.” I provide legal advice to inmates who can't afford a lawyer. I am looking forward to telling my story in this blog, and also providing a forum for prisoners everywhere.