New IDOC restrictions to save money

[freeus007]

Now IDOC is considering closure of a portion of Stateville CC to save money (which is debatable) per IDOC website closure notice Randle posted today. IDOC is evidently running many scenarios on how to save money. Lots of these will be discussed publicly. What concerns me are the ways they are cutting down internally, without public notice, which are effecting the rights and well-being of inmates. I think that whenever we hear of these cutbacks, we should publicize them immediately to attract media attention to them and their effects. For example: Vandalia CC has not had a facility librarian for close to a year. A librarian from Graham has traveled to Vandalia once-a-week to provide library services to Vandalia inmates. Now she has also been stopped from going to Vandalia. Vandalia inmates were told a week ago or so that the library would be closed thru Dec 2, 2009. So, no library, no research, no notary, no photo-copying is available to inmates until the library is re-opened. Yet, IDOC has not posted any library position vacancy for Vandalia CC for this entire time-period! The last library position posted for IDOC was for the East Moline CC this past month. We all know how important the library access is for inmates, especially if they have an appeal process going on. We need to keep our eyes and ears open for similar ways in which IDOC is trying to trim the corners which may be in violation of their regulations. We need to report each incident to IDOC monitor organizations such as the John Howard Association of IL which has a few members on the IDOC advisory committee. No one else is going to get this information out except us....