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Illinois Jail Reprimanded for Denying Detainees Mail Based on Media Content, P.O. Box Return Address, Settles Detainees’ Suit with $111,825 Payment of Legal Fees
Loaded on May 1, 2026
by Douglas Ankney
published in Prison Legal News
May, 2026, page 30
Filed under:
Publications/Books,
Mail Regulations,
Censorship,
First Amendment, rights,
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
Location:
Illinois.
by Douglas Ankney
In a settlement agreement that took 15 months for PLN to obtain, Illinois’ Will County Adult Detention Facility (WCADF) agreed to reverse policies challenged in a suit by a group of pretrial detainees at the jail, which prohibited them from receiving copies of materials printed …
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More from this issue:
- The Systematic Terror of Rankin County’s “Goon Squad”, by Anthony Accurso
- ACLU Threatens New Lawsuit After Indiana County’s Repeated Failures to Abide by 17-Year-Old Settlement Agreement, by Chuck Sharman
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Washington Governor Fires Independent Prison Watchdog
- Spike in Massachusetts Prisoner Suicides Blamed on Isolation, K-2 and Spotty Mental Healthcare, by Chuck Sharman
- Idaho Moves Closer to Firing Squad Executions
- Exonerated Texas Prisoner Entitled to $1.68 Million After 22 Years of Wrongful Incarceration, by Chuck Sharman
- Atlanta Jail Boasts Improvements Since Consent Decree, Reports from Monitor and ACLU Are More Critical, by Chuck Sharman
- Fourth Circuit Revives North Carolina Prisoner’s Suit Blaming Lazy Guards for Assault by Detainee, by Chuck Sharman
- Hospital Keeps Sending Detainees Back Without Care to County Jail in Colorado
- Former Prison Dentist in Iowa Accused of Harassment
- Pregnant Women Detained in Jail: The Hideous Story of In-Custody Births, by Douglas Ankney
- $9.8 Million in Settlements Reached with South Carolina County and Wellpath in Gruesome Jail Death, by Chuck Sharman
- New York Juvenile Detention Officials Sued for Abusing Adolescents with Solitary Confinement, by Chuck Sharman
- Idaho DOC Director Denies Verified Report of Rampant Sexual Abuse of Women Prisoners by Staff, by Douglas Ankney
- Prisoners in Norfolk, Virginia Left on Extended Lockdown, by Michael Thompson
- “Like the Walking Dead”: Smuggled Drugs Fuel Chaos Inside Ohio Prisons, by Laura A. Bischoff, USA Today Network, Doug Livingston, The Marshall Project
- NaphCare Pays $875,000 to Settle New York License Violations, Banned from State for Five Years, by Chuck Sharman
- New Hampshire Officials Halt $700 Million Prison Replacement
- Illinois Jail Reprimanded for Denying Detainees Mail Based on Media Content, P.O. Box Return Address, Settles Detainees’ Suit with $111,825 Payment of Legal Fees, by Douglas Ankney
- Texas Officials Testify That Cost to Air Condition Prisons Tops $1.5 Billion, by Chuck Sharman
- $2.135 Million Partial Settlement Reached in Schizophrenic Detainee’s Death from “Gross Medical Neglect” at South Carolina Jail, by Chuck Sharman
- Federal Court Grants HRDC Preliminary Injunction Against Mail Censorship at New Mexico Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- Oklahoma Supreme Court: Jail Trust Cannot Withhold Requested Records under Law Enforcement Exemption of ORA, by Douglas Ankney
- Faced with Record-Breaking Jail Deaths, L.A. County Supervisors Tell Sheriff’s Department to Improve Access to Naloxone, Camera Monitoring, and Security Checks at California Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- Taser Use Doubled After Grand Jury Report on Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Death, by Michael Thompson
- Pennsylvania Closes Its Second-Oldest Prison
- Federal Court Places Medical Care in Arizona Prisons Under Receivership, by Matthew Clarke
- Nearly 50 People Have Died in ICE Custody Since Trump’s Return to White House, by Jo Ellen Nott
- $1.25 Million Paid for Special Needs Teen’s Fatal Beating in Houston Jail, by Chuck Sharman
- Oklahoma DOC Paid Prison Guards $35.5 Million in Overtime in 2025
- Arkansas Board of Corrections Settles Sunshine Law Charges, Caving to Governor’s Power Grab, by Chuck Sharman
- Monitor Says Massachusetts Prisons Will Not Meet Settlement Deadline for Mental Health Reforms, by Chuck Sharman
- Watchdog Finds Barely 1 in 10 Complaints Against California Prison Staff Handled Adequately, by Chuck Sharman
- Six Maryland Guards Convicted in Prisoner’s Beating, Cover-up; § 1983 Suit Filed, by Chuck Sharman
- Trump Wants $152 Million to Turn Alcatraz Back Into a Prison
- Trump Approves Firing Squads for Federal Executions
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Liability but Reverses Damages in Lawsuit Over Illinois Warden and Investigator Using Prisoner as Bait to Catch Staff Member Raping Her, by Matthew Clarke
- Negligence, Lack of Training at Ohio’s Cuyahoga County Jail Led to String of Deaths, by Michael Thompson
- Nevada Non-Profit Founder Under Investigation for Misconduct
- $750,000 Paid by NaphCare for New York Jail Suicide, by Chuck Sharman
- HRDC Sues Colorado Jail for Prohibiting Dozens of Magazines and Books, by Robert Haughn
- Connecticut Correction Ombuds Finds DOC in “Sustained Institutional Failure”, by Chuck Sharman
- Arrests of Unhoused People Driving Albuquerque Jail Bookings, by Michael Thompson
- Indiana DOC Found in Violation of State Public Records Act for Withholding Execution Drug Cost Information, by Chuck Sharman
- Federal Jury Awards $307.6 Million to Former Michigan Prisoner After Corizon Refused Surgery, Forcing Him to Wear Colostomy Bag for Two Years, by Robert Haughn
- Alabama DOC Terminates $1 Billion Contract with YesCare
- Prisons in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula “in a Death Spiral” Due to Under-Staffing
- Records Show Culture of Impunity Among Kentucky Prison Guards, by Jo Ellen Knott
- Prison Policy Initiative Updates Its Mass Incarceration Report, by Michael Thompson
- Texas Moves to Restrict Cashless Bond and Reverse Federal Court-Ordered Misdemeanor Bail Reform, by Matthew Clarke
- Judge Denies New York Prison Chief’s Motion to be Dismissed from Case Related to Robert Brooks’ Murder, by Michael Thompson
- Guaranteed Income Helps People Leaving Jail and Prison, and That Helps Everyone, by Aleks Kajstura
- News in Brief
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Idaho Legislature Moves to Hide Execution Protocol from Judicial Scrutiny, Sept. 1, 2026
- New Jersey Court Rules That Denial of Transgender Prisoner’s Transfer Request Violates Neither Discrimination Law nor Equal Protection Clause, Sept. 1, 2026
- Federal Court Upholds Consultants’ Finding that Oklahoma Is Not Honoring Its Consent Decree to Provide Mental Health Treatment, Sept. 1, 2026
- BOP Denies Providing Substandard Dialysis Treatment Despite Prisoners’ Deaths, Court Filings, Understaffing and Lack of Oversight, Sept. 1, 2026
- New Jersey Supreme Court Orders Plenary Hearing Before Special Adjudicator on Reliability of Fingerprint Evidence, Holding Century of Judicial Acceptance Did Not Satisfy Trial Court’s Gatekeeping Obligation Under N.J.R.E. 702, Aug. 1, 2026
- En Banc Eleventh Circuit Announces All Parents, Including Those Convicted of Child-Sex Offenses, Enjoy Fundamental Right to Live With Their Children, Holding Alabama Residency Prohibition Subject to Strict Scrutiny, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Announces Courts May Examine Individual Officer’s Subjective Purpose When Assessing Whether Warrantless Administrative Inspection Was Pretextual, Holding Suppression Required Where Trooper’s Sole Motive for Stop Was Criminal Investigati, Aug. 1, 2026
- SCOTUS Holds § 922(g)(3) Prosecution Based Solely on Regular Marijuana Use, Without Individualized Proof of Dangerousness, Violates Second Amendment, Aug. 1, 2026
- Judge Grants Attorney’s Motion to Withdrawal from Corizon Health Case Due to Non-Payment, Aug. 1, 2026
- Abuse is No Excuse: Oklahoma’s Judges Deny Sentencing Relief to Prisoners Who Were Raped and Physically Assaulted, Aug. 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- HRDC Wins Injunction Against Minnesota DOC Policy Banning Its Publications, Sept. 1, 2026. Injunctions, Publications/Books, Censorship, First Amendment, rights, HRDC Litigation.
- Ninth Circuit Revives HRDC Challenge to Washington DOC Mail Restrictions, Aug. 1, 2026. Qualified Immunity, Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, First Amendment, rights.
- Tenth Circuit: Colorado Governor Unentitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity on Claim Related to DOC Religious Policies, Aug. 1, 2026. Sovereign Immunity, Religious Practices, Religious Property, First Amendment, rights, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
- HRDC Wins Injunction to Halt New Mexico Prison Censorship, July 1, 2026. Injunctions, Publications/Books, Censorship, First Amendment, rights, HRDC Litigation.
- Texas Prison System Bans Prisoners from Receiving Hardback and Used Books, July 1, 2026. Reading Materials, Legal Materials, Publications/Books, Banned Book Lists, Censorship.
- Wisconsin Bans Recording of Prison Phone Calls with Journalists, July 1, 2026. Access to Media, Censorship, First Amendment, First Amendment, rights, Recorded Calls.
- SCOTUS Refuses to Allow Damages Under RLUIPA for Rastafarian Former Prisoner Shaved Bald by Louisiana Prison Officials, July 1, 2026. Religious Discrimination, Religious Practices, Damages - Compensatory, Adequacy of Remedy, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
- Nebraska Lifts Suspension of Native American Religious Practices Hours Prior to Federal Court Hearing, June 1, 2026. Denial of Religious Services, Religious Practices, First Amendment, rights, Religious Freedom/Worship, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
- Federal Court Grants HRDC Preliminary Injunction Against Mail Censorship at New Mexico Jail, May 1, 2026. Injunctions, Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, HRDC Litigation.
- HRDC Sues Colorado Jail for Prohibiting Dozens of Magazines and Books, May 1, 2026. Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, Constitution, state, HRDC Litigation.