"Deteriorating conditions in the state’s prisons and climate change could be a potentially deadly combination, advocates warn."
"As heat grips Illinois this summer, one group is more vulnerable to extreme heat than any other: Those incarcerated inside the state’s decaying prisons and jails.
People incarcerated in facilities the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) operates have been exposed to dangerous environmental conditions for years, according to environmental and social justice advocates. Just last year, a federal judge ordered the evacuation of most residents from the now-closed Stateville Correctional Center due to the risk of people being struck by falling concrete.
In a July 24 letter to Gov. JB Pritzker from Uptown People’s Law Center, the local public interest law firm alleges that people inside multiple IDOC facilities are being kept in dangerous conditions, exacerbated by extreme heat. Some of the concerns that the letter outlines include: lack of access to potable water, lack of access to fans, lack of access to cool spaces and directives from correctional officers and other staff that discourage people from seeking assistance in the facilities’ health care units.
“We have been informed of health crises and deaths resulting from the sweltering conditions inside cells,” the letter says. Later on in the letter, UPLC states that existing rules are often ignored."
Siri Chilukuri reports for Inside Climate News July 28, 2025.
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