IL: Federal Judge Finds Illinois Rules On Sex Offenders Unconstitutional

[wbez.org – 4/1/19]

 

A federal judge in Chicago has found the Illinois Department of Corrections is violating the constitutional rights of prisoners convicted of certain sex crimes by making the restrictions on where they can live so stringent that inmates are often locked up long beyond their sentences.

In a ruling issued Sunday, Judge Virginia Kendall wrote that hundreds of offenders in the state’s prison system successfully complete their entire court-ordered sentences yet remain behind bars indefinitely. Kendall found the corrections department is depriving them of fundamental rights, and if they had money and support, they’d be able to leave and begin serving out what’s called “mandatory supervised release.”

Mark Weinberg, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the decision could mean relief for hundreds of people who have been in prison even though they’ve served their time.

“A plaintiff of mine called me [today] to say it’s the talk of the prison,” he said. “There are ways to protect public safety but holding people in prison long after their sentences are over isn’t the proper way to do it.”

In 2017, WBEZ visited and spoke with J.D. Lindenmeier, one of the plaintiffs in the case. At that time, Lindenmeier had been behind bars six years past his court-ordered release date. But he’s still in prison today, a total of eight years beyond his sentence because he can’t find a place to live that complies with the state’s requirements.

Prisoners call the time they serve beyond their sentences — often many years — “dead time.”

Read more

 

Related posts

Subscribe
Notify of

We welcome a lively discussion with all view points - keeping in mind...

 

  1. Submissions must be in English
  2. Your submission will be reviewed by one of our volunteer moderators. Moderating decisions may be subjective.
  3. Please keep the tone of your comment civil and courteous. This is a public forum.
  4. Swear words should be starred out such as f*k and s*t and a**
  5. Please avoid the use of derogatory labels.  Always use person-first language.
  6. Please stay on topic - both in terms of the organization in general and this post in particular.
  7. Please refrain from general political statements in (dis)favor of one of the major parties or their representatives.
  8. Please take personal conversations off this forum.
  9. We will not publish any comments advocating for violent or any illegal action.
  10. We cannot connect participants privately - feel free to leave your contact info here. You may want to create a new / free, readily available email address that are not personally identifiable.
  11. Please refrain from copying and pasting repetitive and lengthy amounts of text.
  12. Please do not post in all Caps.
  13. If you wish to link to a serious and relevant media article, legitimate advocacy group or other pertinent web site / document, please provide the full link. No abbreviated / obfuscated links. Posts that include a URL may take considerably longer to be approved.
  14. We suggest to compose lengthy comments in a desktop text editor and copy and paste them into the comment form
  15. We will not publish any posts containing any names not mentioned in the original article.
  16. Please choose a short user name that does not contain links to other web sites or identify real people.  Do not use your real name.
  17. Please do not solicit funds
  18. No discussions about weapons
  19. If you use any abbreviation such as Failure To Register (FTR), Person Forced to Register (PFR) or any others, the first time you use it in a thread, please expand it for new people to better understand.
  20. All commenters are required to provide a real email address where we can contact them.  It will not be displayed on the site.
  21. Please send any input regarding moderation or other website issues via email to moderator [at] all4consolaws [dot] org
  22. We no longer post articles about arrests or accusations, only selected convictions. If your comment contains a link to an arrest or accusation article we will not approve your comment.
  23. If addressing another commenter, please address them by exactly their full display name, do not modify their name. 
ACSOL, including but not limited to its board members and agents, does not provide legal advice on this website.  In addition, ACSOL warns that those who provide comments on this website may or may not be legal professionals on whose advice one can reasonably rely.  
 

9 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Like to see them get paid for the extra time served beyond what was supposed to be served…

Man the only thing these people understand is law suits.
https://www.dicellolaw.com/practice-areas/civil-rights/wrongful-imprisonment-release-date.html

“In 2017, WBEZ visited and spoke with J.D. Lindenmeier, one of the plaintiffs in the case. At that time, Lindenmeier had been behind bars six years past his court-ordered release date. But he’s still in prison today, a total of eight years beyond his sentence because he can’t find a place to live that complies with the state’s requirements.”

So it has now been 8 years past his release date.
Why in the hell are these prisoners filing habeas corpus petitions left and right? And filing civil suits for monetary damages?
I know reason and logic usually does not apply in sex offenders, but it would be hard pressed for a court to state that it is legal to hold someone not civilly committed beyond their release date regardless of reasoning. Seems like a slam dunk to me.

That was me. I was denied halfway house because they weren’t taking us dangerous people, only arsonists, armed robbers, and drug dealers. I didn’t get extra time, but I had to stay in the prison up to my final release date. fortunately I had a relative get me a motel and I went right to there.

Illinois,
I live a stone’s throw North of the border. I was born there. I worked in Illinois for many years so I know how the unions dominate politics. It is among the most indebted state as far a unfunded pension for state gov employees. The state is broke and avoids bankruptcy with extreme fees and tax rates. Many people and businesses are leaving Illinois because it is well known the live under no rules based on constitutional preference. Keeping folks locked up beyond their terms is just the tip of the iceberg. I sure hope fines are levied against the state for these obvious constitutional infractions.

If you are on the registry in Illinois you are nothing more than a modern day slave. The registry is nothing more than treating people just like the Germans and Japanese people during the world wars. A person is restricted on where they can go, where they can work, and if they have a family they are denied doing normal things like going to a church(if it has a play ground), I have been on it for 8 years and when I was convicted in 1992 when I was 17 these laws didn’t exist. But after serving 20 full years in prison I had to see if I would even be released. Then to boot, I was informed of every where I couldn’t go and told at least you are free. No I am not a person is free when they can do what the constitution says they can do. Which is to be able to be free from illegal laws that violate due process. Illinois registry is the same as Michigan’s and it need to be fought on the exact same grounds