Dear Friend,
If you are following the news these days, you have probably seen a photo from the brutal prison in El Salvador, Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), of men clustered together, heads bent down to touch the person in front of them. It is a depiction of cruelty where people are never heard from again. UPLC condemns this prison and the actions and threats by the Trump administration to deport and disappear individuals—including U.S. citizens in custody of the Bureau of Prisons. No one should be erased, denied due process, or face horrific abuse at the hands of prison officials.
But we have also seen photos like the ones from CECOT before, including in our case Ross v. Gossett, which recently went to trial against the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). In this case, IDOC staff and the state’s Special Operations Response Team—known as “Orange Crush”—were accused of attacking, sexually humiliating, and torturing thousands of prisoners in Illinois. Prisoners were lined up single file, handcuffed behind their backs in a painful manner.. Their heads had to be down and touch the back of the person in front of them, and they were forced to follow each other so closely that their genitals touched the buttocks or hands of the person in front of them.
During the trial, clients told stories of physical and mental abuse and terror at the hands of the “Orange Crush” team, as well as the long-lasting effects this kind of abuse has on a person. Degrading, dangerous, and dehumanizing treatment is a common thread through many of UPLC’s prison cases. We condemn with equal force what is happening at CECOT. All human beings deserve to be treated with respect, an adherence to the preservation of their individual rights and liberties, and adequate care.
We have a long way to go in Illinois towards those principles. Along with Equip For Equality, UPLC recently filed Hilliard v. Hughes, a federal lawsuit challenging IDOC’s near-total abandonment of prior reforms made to provide adequate mental health treatment to the nearly 13,000 people (almost 44% of all IDOC prisoners) with mental illness in Illinois prisons. The complaint details a gross disregard for people’s mental health, including a dramatic drop in qualified mental health care staff. IDOC staff respond to people in crisis not with care but with force and punishment, including tactical team cell extractions, pepper spray, physical violence, emergency enforced medications, painful four-point restraints, and solitary confinement.
We also continue to challenge the use of solitary confinement. UPLC recently survived summary judgment in the Davis case against IDOC, which alleges that it is cruel and unusual punishment to confine people, often 24 hours a day, to small, rodent-infested, airless cells with no natural light, reduced food, and minimal yard time. Simply put, this is torture, and it has no place in Illinois prisons or elsewhere. The case will head to trial later this year.
UPLC will continue to bring to light these injustices and fight for the dignity and human rights of every person in Illinois prisons. UPLC’s Prisoner Rights Advocate Stanley Howard spent 39 years in Illinois prisons, including 16 years on death row. He often states, “Everyone in prison knows that UPLC will show up and fight for the basic rights of people in prison. UPLC will not forget those on the inside.”
Stanley’s words underscore why we must continue to invest and grow other advocates to fight for the human rights of people in prison. This is why my partner Jeff and I are making a $1,000 contribution to the Alan Mills Action Fund. We firmly believe in Uptown People’s Law Center’s mission, and want to support the next generation of prisoners’ rights lawyers. Please help us to meet our goal to raise $100,000 so that we can train and mentor new attorneys to do this work and fight for justice.
Finally, please join us in Uptown on May 17, 2025 to celebrate Alan Mills in the community he has given back to his entire career. We will also talk about the future of justice and the fight ahead, hearing from some of the new leaders in this space including Alderwoman Angela Clay, ONE Northside Executive Director Jesse Hoyt, and aforementioned UPLC staff member Stanley Howard. Register for the Haymarket celebration here.
Yours in struggle,
Kate Walz
