Banning printed materials

An emergency rule being implemented by Illinois prisons may soon deny prisoners access to letters, cards and books sent to them by family members.

Department of Corrections officials are concerned that drugs such as fentanyl are being smuggled into prisons through inmate mail. But critics say the measure is overtly cruel and will do little to stem the flow of narcotics into penal institutions. 

“The real question is: how does the contraband get into prisons?” said Jennifer Vollen-Katz, executive director of the John Howard Association, a Chicago-based prison reform group.

She said the Illinois General Assembly recently approved a study to determine how illicit drugs are entering penitentiaries. But Vollen-Katz noted the prison system is now taking drastic and harmful action before any data has been collected.

The emergency rule allows prison officials to electronically scan letters and cards and email their images to tablet computers issued to inmates. Books could no longer be sent directly from families to their loved ones behind bars. 

“When you are in prison, you are in a controlled environment and sometimes some of the prison guards take advantage of that and use their power to work against you,” said Lynard Joiner, a Springfield man who served 17 years in federal prison.  “A physical letter and physical pictures mean more to you than something electronic. The pictures mean a thousand words. That’s something you can hold on to – a birthday card, something your kid made you. We live for those letters in prison. You love to hear your name called at mail call. Now that they are doing it electronically, it’s just not the same.”

Typically, new administrative rules must go through a public hearing process before a legislative commission: the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, or JCAR. Opponents and proponents are allowed to testify about the proposed rules and then the commission votes.

But the Department of Corrections is sidestepping the usual process by declaring an emergency – when one doesn’t exist, Vollen-Katz said. Instead, the emergency rule will be presented to JCAR Sept. 16 in Chicago. But opponents will be prohibited from testifying because it is being presented as an “emergency.”

“We are concerned about them filing this as an emergency rule when there’s no evidence to suggest that there’s an emergency,” she said. “There is no evidence or data to suggest that the numbers (of prison drug cases) have gone up or that the situation has changed.  There haven’t been more people exposed or more medical interventions.”

In an emailed statement, IDOC spokeswoman Naomi Puzzello said, “The Illinois Department of Corrections’ top priority is the safety of staff, individuals in custody and all who enter our facilities. In recent years and on a continuing basis, IDOC has seen an increase in incidents involving chemical-laced paper being introduced into facilities. To address this ongoing threat, the Department has filed an emergency rule in an effort to gain the ability to implement mail scanning as part of a broader, multi-pronged strategy to prevent dangerous and illegal substances from entering correctional facilities.”

Joiner, who now leads a program helping ex-offenders reintegrate into society, said it appears the state agency is ignoring the most obvious source of illegal drugs in prison: staff members.

“Believe me, they have got it wrong. Drugs are not entering prison through the mail. There are several other ways that drugs get into a facility. During my time in incarceration, I never got a piece of mail that they had not opened and read. …  So how are drugs getting into the facility? You have to look at staff. They have more ways of bringing it in than we do because we are locked up.”

Katrina Baugh, the Illinois consultant for the prison-reform group FAMM, said this new rule erodes the ties between those serving time and their families. 

“The most important thing for most people who are incarcerated is their relationship with their loved ones on the outside,” she said. “And most of those people have those relationships hindered greatly by distance. Many folks live hundreds of miles away from where they’re held in captivity. So regular meetings are not an option. It’s very rare that people get visits from family or loved ones. So, holding something that they held and wrote for you is the closest thing to a real connection that most people have most days. To take this away feels cruel.”

Her view was echoed by Julie Anderson, outreach director for the Restore Justice Foundation, a reform group dedicated to developing less punitive but more effective consequences for offenders.

She has a son who served 27 years in Illinois prisons for a Chicago homicide committed when he was a juvenile. 

During prison visits, she routinely brought books for her son to read after they were vetted by staff to ensure they did not contain contraband. This practice could end under the new emergency rule. 

“My son had a love of reading. I always thought that saved him. It really did. But this also affects educational materials. There are several colleges that do courses and depend on the mail,” Anderson said. “The primary source of drugs coming into prison is not through the mail. When we spoke with the DOC, all of them have admitted this won’t get rid of the problem. I don’t see them taking correctional officers, contractors or whoever works there and saying, ‘You can’t bring in a piece of paper.’  The problem (of drugs) needs to be addressed, but this isn’t the solution.”

Scott Reeder, a staff writer for Illinois Times, can be reached at sreeder@illinoistimes.com.

This article appears in September 11-17, 2025.