Recent death highlights deplorable conditions at Stateville Correctional Center
(The Center Square) – The family of an inmate who recently died at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet is calling for the immediate closure of the Illinois Department of Corrections facility.
Family members said 51-year-old Michael Broadway, who recently earned a college degree while incarcerated, died from asthma, which was made worse by the conditions in the facility.
Last March, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a $900 million plan to close and replace Stateville and the Logan Correctional Center near Lincoln in the next three to five years.
“We’re listening to a lot of stakeholders but imminently we need to make changes in the correction system and investments that will keep people safe,” Pritzker said at an unrelated event this week. “I’m not just talking about the inmates, I’m also talking about the correctional officers that work at those facilities.”
After several public hearings, during which employees testified, the Illinois Department of Corrections said that Stateville would not close before Sept. 13, 2024.
The union representing prison workers opposes the plan as it calls for Stateville employees to be relocated to a facility within a 65-mile radius during construction.
During a Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability hearing, state Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Murrayville, said a tour of Stateville was eye opening.
“We should continue to operate Stateville while we build,” said Davidsmeyer. “We should make Stateville a priority, to rebuild right now, immediately.”
Opened in 1925, Stateville was built to accommodate around 1,500 inmates. The facility was one of three sites in which executions were carried out by electrocution in Illinois.
Logan Correctional Center is a prison for female and transgender offenders and opened in January 1978.
