Two men currently detained at the Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) are asking a federal court to force the Federal Bureau of Prisons to take immediate steps to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the facility. Ricky Price and Kevin Conway are among the more than 500 persons detained at the MCC, a facility designed for only 400 detainees. It is clear that this overcrowding, which has caused double-bunking in small cells and the housing of up to 100 persons in dormitory-like facilities, has facilitated the spread of COVID-19.

The MCC has been a vector for spread of the coronavirus since last spring. In May 2020, 20 to 25% of the population was diagnosed with an infection, despite a lack of testing throughout the facility. The same happened again once winter hit.  Even now, management has stuck with its old, failed practices--officers walk the halls without wearing masks; basic needs such as soap and hand sanitizer are not widely available; and showers and other commonly used objects, like phones, are not cleaned and sanitized regularly. 

“It is hard to define what MCC officials are doing as a strategy for confronting COVID,” said Camille Bennett, director of the Prison Reform Project at the ACLU of Illinois. “They failed in the spring and they have not learned a single lesson. There must be a specific, science-based plan to protect those detained at the MCC.”  

Residents, including the two men bringing the lawsuit, report being terrified and depressed. They have good reason. The BOP COVID-19 page recently reported 307 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the MCC since the start of the pandemic. Reportedly some staff and a few residents were recently offered vaccinations, but most remain unprotected and unsafe. Given the reality that many of the residents at MCC have pre-existing conditions that make them susceptible to serious illness or death if they contract the coronavirus, it is urgent to make changes to the MCC practices.  

“After months of inaction, it is clear that the court must order substantial changes at MCC, or people will die,” added Bennett.

The two plaintiffs are asking the court to order development of a vaccination plan at the MCC which results in all MCC residents and staff being vaccinated as soon as possible, along with vaccine education; adoption of an aggressive testing regimen in the facility, so that staff and all new and existing residents are tested on a regular basis; properly implemented isolation of COVID-positive residents; effective sanitation; universal masking inside the facility, and measures to relieve the depression of residents who have spent months under lockdown.  

A copy of the complaint can be found here.  

The following statement can be attributed to John Knight, LGBTQ & HIV Project Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois:

“Today, we celebrate President Biden’s executive order lifting the ban on transgender service members in the military. The President’s action reverses the cruel and arbitrary ban imposed by the previous administration nearly four years ago. 
 
The facts are clear. The ban did not make our nation safer and it did not increase effectiveness or morale for our troops. Rather, it simply denied the opportunity to serve to new recruits as well as people who had been serving effectively for years and wanted nothing more than to continue doing their job to protect our country. 
 
Time and again over the past four years, in courtrooms across the country, the lack of justification for this ban has been attested to by a range of experts on military preparedness. It was long past time to bring this cruelty to an end.”

Today we mark 48 years since the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, which affirmed an individual’s right to determine their own future by deciding whether and when to become a parent. Two years ago, Governor J.B. Pritzker pledged to make Illinois a national leader in protecting the right to access reproductive health care. Yet still there are youth in Illinois who are forced to appear in front of a judge and seek approval to control their own reproductive health care.

Over the past seven years more than 500 young people have had to go to court across the state due to a dangerous law, the Parental Notice of Abortion Act (PNA), that forces the involvement of a parent, grandparent, step-parent they live with, or other legal guardian in their decision to have an abortion.

The majority of young people under 18 voluntarily consult with a parent or other trusted adult when seeking abortion care. However, some young people must go through out a court process known as “judicial bypass” instead, because they are not able to trust one of the specific individuals designated by the law with this decision. They may fear physical or emotional abuse, being kicked out of their home, being forced to continue an unwanted pregnancy, or other harms.

The ACLU of Illinois operates a Judicial Bypass Coordination Project to provide legal assistance to the youth who must endure this court process. We have seen firsthand how this process can delay young people’s access to time-sensitive healthcare – going to court for a judicial bypass takes over six days on average, and sometimes much more – and present significant logistical and emotional burdens.

Instead of blocking young people’s access to reproductive health care, Illinois should be investing in solutions like ensuring medically accurate, comprehensive sexual health education in schools; increasing access to affordable birth control; and helping to foster healthy, shame-free communications between young people and their families, teachers, and doctors.

Young people are in the best position to know who will keep them safe, healthy and affirmed. As we mark the anniversary of Roe this year, it is time for Illinois to repeal PNA, and ensure that all young people in Illinois have access to safe and timely reproductive health care.