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To the editor: Commission on
Government Forecasting and Accountability:
 Hello!
My name is Tammy Eveans, and I am an inmate at Logan Correctional
Center here in Lincoln, Illinois. I have been incarcerated for 35
years and so I write this letter as a representative of the Logan
Correctional Center inmate population that is opposed to its closure
and relocation. While there is no doubt as to the need for
infrastructure repair and/or rebuilding, the complete closure of
this facility is not warranted. The original announcement of the
closures of Stateville Correctional and Logan Correctional Centers
by Governor J.B. Pritzker takes me back to 2009-2010 when then
Governor Pat Quinn announced the closure of Dwight Correctional
Center in Dwight, Illinois. What do both of these closure
announcements have in common? I suggest it to be a politically
motivated tool to bolster or garner more party votes for each of the
respective Governors. Given that even the Bible declares that “there
is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9), I find we are once again
at a crossroads of what is actually best for Illinoisans and what
seems politically beneficial to those who govern this state.
Let me give you some facts to substantiate my position. First, I
speak for all the females at Logan who are from the central and
southern regions of Illinois, as well as speaking for the families
and loved ones they in turn represent. Logan Correction Center is
comprised of 66.1 percent of the population from central and
southern regions/counties, while only a minority of 33.9 percent of
the inmate population is from that of the northern regions of Cook
county and surrounding collar-counties. Now the mathematics on this
is pretty simple and clear cut. Logan, which resides in central
Illinois, serves over half of all the female inmates population for
the entire state. Yet Governor Pritzker wants to close Logan,
relocate it three to three and a half hours north to Crest Hill,
Illinois only and truthfully because Logan is located in a “RED”
county and Crest Hill is located in a “BLUE” county. We all know
what these two colors represent so there is no need to elaborate
there. This proposed move is sheer, raw, brass-knuckled politics,
and it is the honest, hard-working, faithful, community-oriented
people who will be the ones who suffer in this proposed action by
our Governor.
When Dwight Correction Center was being proposed for closure, the
entire town community of Dwight and the surround communities and or
towns all banded together to “SAVE” their livelihoods and home-lives
from being decimated should Dwight’s closure go through. Their
cries, pleas, and fight all fell on deaf ears. To this very day, the
town of Dwight, Illinois is forgotten and barren, where once it was
blossoming and thriving in every area. The good and up-standing
citizens of Dwight and its respective geographical area, who
faithfully elected their governmental representatives, were
abandoned and discarded by those same elected officials chosen to
represent them and their interest. Here we all stand, in Lincoln,
Illinois, in the very same shoes that those of Dwight, Illinois
stood in nearly 14-15 years ago. I reiterate…”there is nothing new
under the sun..”
[to top of second column in this letter]
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Lincoln! Just that name holds value, let alone its
land. Adjacent to Logan Correctional Center sits 100-plus acres of
land for the possible location of a rebuild. Everything that
Governor Pritzker said and says that is available in Crest Hill,
Illinois for the female incarcerated population is likewise
available right here in Lincoln and central Illinois. Springfield’s
greatest hospitals and medical services, which are utilized and
optimized will continue to be so. Logan Correctional Center has an
amazing array of staff, both in security and lay staff, as well as
awesome and dedicated volunteers who devote time, energy, and
finances into advancing the potential of Logan’s female population.
There is no reason whatsoever to move Logan and relocate it so far
north other than to accommodate a “BLUE” platform for this is an
election year. We all know wholeheartedly how politicians make moves
and give promises during election years, and then all too quickly
forget those promises once in office or once again in office. The
only person or persons to benefit from this relocation of Logan is
Governor Pritzker and the Democratic Party and its platform. Of
course this includes Crest Hill for it is “BLUE” after all – go
figure!
If Governor Pritzker wants a new prison built in Crest Hill,
Illinois, fine – build it and house the northern regional female
inmate population there, to their benefit. But leave Logan
Correctional Center where it is, thus serving the central and
southern regions of Illinoi in Lincoln, Illinois. As a member of the
inmate population who is from central/southern Illinois, I use my
voice for our families and loved ones to have their opportunities of
interest safeguarding by keeping Logan open and rebuilding here. Our
families and loved ones are also hard-working dedicated, faithful,
tax-paying citizens of this region of our state. They deserve
sincere consideration and to have their voices heard, which is why I
am writing this now. As inmates convicted for our crimes, we now
serve out our retributions here at Logan and we realize FULLY that
our personal interest has no voices. But our voices – my voice –
will speak forth for my family and loved ones because the proposed
closure and relocation will heap a mountain of hardships upon them,
as it will so very many others like myself. Our families and loved
ones have committed no crimes and all they want is to stay connected
to us because they love us.
My community of peers are the majority, from central and southern
Illinois, and we want to remain here. As I stated previously, if
Pritzker wants to build another prison up north, by all means go for
it! (And by all means, I say the one billion dollars it will cost
all taxpayers of Illinois.) But leave Logan Correctional Center in
Lincoln, Illinois, and thus give Lincoln and its people the
opportunity to continue to represent its great name and land, year
after year after year! They deserve it, have earned it, proven it,
and present it well. Our families and loved ones implore likewise,
and so do the majority of women from Logan Correction Center, even a
large populous who are actually from northern Illinois. I certainly
do! Thank you!
Heralding Right Action,
Tammy Eveans
ID# B07539
Logan Correctional Center [Posted
June 13,
2024]
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