Now a first-hand account from inside Rushville, IL SO civil commitment facility
Last week I received a letter from an inmate in Iowa nearing the approach of his release date and terrified that he would be sent to the Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders. He wote about what that facility was like. This week I have received a letter from a man who is an inmate at Rushville Civil Commitment Facility in Illinois. We have dealt with Rushville previously, having sent them a letter of protest and received no acknowledgment of our concerns. Special civil commitment facilities for men with convictions for sexual offenses are prisons masquerading as treatment programs. Here is this most recent letter.
Dear Sandy Rozek,
My name is XXXX, and on January 19, 2022, after six long years of fighting for my life in the courtroom (self-representation) and in the Cook County, Illinois jail, I pled guilty to a sentence of eight years at 85% for the charge of aggravated criminal sexual assault and armed robbery. I took the plea because if I did not plea to the charges, I was told I possibly would be dead by the hands of other detainees, correctional officers, or indirectly by the judge who took away my protective custody status.
After completion of the prison sentence, I was sentenced to three years to life parole with GPS monitoring the duration of my parole. Is this not unconstitutional? I was tricked into pleading guilty to eight years but was actually sentenced to life because of the parole sentence. I was told that if I didn’t find a parole site, I would have to stay in prison. According to the rules for sex offenders, my chances of finding a place to parole would be very slim.
When I had completed my eight-year sentence, my parole site kept getting denied without a valid reason. Their reasons for denying my parole sites were: 1) A daycare center was within 500 feet, and 2) other site: park within 500 feet; these do not apply to me because under the Illinois Registration Act, only child offenders can’t be around places directed towards children.
I filed a grievance. Their response was that parole is not a grievable issue. I threatened to sue for $1,000 a day for every day I remained locked up past my parole date.
I found myself being petitioned for civil commitment under the Sexually Violent Predator Act and detained against my will at the Rushville Treatment and Detention Facility in Rushville, Illinois.
I’ve been here for several months, and there are no educational programs here whatsoever. The medical, if any, is terrible because if you are sick or need to see a doctor, you first sign up. The next day you will be seen by a nurse who will then tell you, “You are scheduled to see a doctor whenever the 90 year old doctor decides he wants to see you and if he sees you, he’s very rude and doesn’t really want to help.” I’ve been waiting to get my teeth cleaned since I got here. Every three months I send another request to get my teeth cleaned. The response is, “You are on the list.” I’ve been on the list since the week after my arrival, September 9, 2022.
While I await trial for the SVP commitment, my parole is being tolled. To my understanding, toll means that my parole is being placed on hold. If I am found not to be an SVP and discharged, I will be sent back to prison to parole out, all over again. This is cruel and unusual punishment because than I would be back in prison without having committed another crime or without having violated my parole, so the tolling of the parole would amount to punishment and should be considered unconstitutional.
One detainee, after 27 years of being detained under this act, was discharged with nowhere to go, no education or vocational training, and no money. He was dropped off at the bus station, with no chance of survival after 27 years imprisonment.
Sandy, anything I write you, you can publish; you can also send me questions you have about this facility.
I don’t have a high school education, but I can read, spell, and comprehend enough to know when I’m being taken advantage of.
America has become the United States of Socialist Republics (USSR aka Soviet Union). In short order expect state sponsored vigilantism to become the norm on every street corner. I pity law makers who draft and pass these laws. God will one day hold elected officials accountable and he doesn’t forget injustices done against others.