More than three years ago, the U.S. District Court in Chicago issued a consent decree that requires the Illinois Department of Corrections to provide adequate medical care to prisoners with serious medical needs. A report by Dr. John Raba, who was appointed by the court to monitor compliance with the consent decree, was filed in the case on Aug. 9.
Despite repeated calls for compliance in Raba’s previous reports, the latest report shows that IDOC not only has failed to comply with the consent decree but also has been engaging in elder abuse of older prisoners with serious medical needs, resulting in deaths that might have been prevented with proper care.
As noted in the report, elder abuse occurs when a caregiver fails to provide an older adult with necessary medical care. The report gives several examples of elder abuse, including the following:
In his first report in 2019, Raba noted that 19% of the IDOC population was 50 years or older, and that in this group, nearly 1,000 were between 65 and 79, and another 61 were older than 80. He stated that the required resources to meet the needs of this aging population were “staggering” and would increase without a concerted effort to address the situation.
Raba said that in order to deal with the problem, “in the near future the IDOC must take the lead to create a pathway to discharge those men and women whose mental and medical conditions make them no longer a risk to society to appropriate settings in the community.”
There is a bill pending in the General Assembly that would provide the pathway described by Dr. Raba. House Bill 3613, if enacted, would provide a process to seek parole to persons who are at least 55 years old and have served at least 25 years. This is less than 4% of the entire IDOC population, but these are the people who, due to their age, are least likely to commit crimes if released, and most expensive to care for if they remain in prison.
If released, they would be able to get medical care in a community setting designed to provide medical care, instead of in prison, which is designed to keep people locked up. If enacted, HB 3613 would not guarantee release to anyone, but would give older people the opportunity to prove to the parole board that they are ready for release.
Illinois abolished parole in 1978, so that most people in prison can achieve early release only through executive clemency granted by the governor. The state recently took a step forward by enacting the Joe Coleman Medical Release Act, which was effective Jan. 1 of this year. It permits early release of those who are diagnosed as terminally ill or medically incapacitated. However, many older people in prison, despite having serious medical needs, do not qualify for release under this act.
Elder abuse in Illinois prisons must stop. Enactment of HB 3613 would be a significant step toward solving this important problem.
William Nissen has practiced law in Chicago since 1976. Recently, Nissen has been primarily representing, on a pro bono basis, persons incarcerated in Illinois prisons who are seeking executive clemency from the governor.
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