CHICAGO – U.S. Seventh Circuit judges affirmed District Judge Staci Yandle of Benton in certifying a class action for inmates who experienced shakedowns at three Illinois prisons in 2014.
Officers shook prisons down to the chapels, where they held men in handcuffs for hours while other officers searched their cells.
The Seventh Circuit’s May 5 opinion rejected a claim of Gov. Pritzker’s corrections department that at worst, rogue officers departed from policy.
Circuit Judge Ila Rovner wrote, “The class action against the supervisors here is decidedly not based on aberrant actions by rogue non supervisors.
“It is premised entirely on the constitutionality of the procedures that were part of the plan designed and implemented by the supervisors, which allegedly were planned to cause pain and humiliation with no penological justification.”
The class periods cover 13 days at Menard, nine days at Illinois River, and eight days at Big Muddy.
Rovner wrote that she’d begin with facts Yandle set forth.
According to background in the opinion, operations chief Joseph Yurkovich and deputy Michael Atchison decided to execute shakedowns for sanitation and discovery of contraband.
Tactical commander David White and regional commander Timothy McAllister created orders for the schedule and the staffing.
Officers wore uniforms with no identifying insignia or name badges.
Uniforms consisted of an orange jumpsuit, vest, gloves, and helmets with face shield.
“Based on that distinctive uniform, the tactical teams were colloquially referred to as Orange Crush by inmates,” Rovner wrote.
“First, tactical team officers would enter the living units in a cacophonous manner, yelling loudly and banging their batons on the bars and railings of the unit.”
Officers ordered a reverse strip search requiring inmates to manipulate their genitals and buttocks and to put their hands in their mouths.
“Inmates were then commanded to put on a shirt, pants, and shoes, but were not allowed to don underwear,” she wrote.
“They were handcuffed in a position that is particularly painful and uncomfortable, in which their hands were behind their backs with their thumbs up and palms facing out.”
They marched to a holding area in “nuts to butts” fashion.
“They maintain that the tactical team members routinely pushed and shoved inmates to ensure that such physical contact occurred,” she wrote.
Officers held inmates in handcuffs in dining halls, gyms, and chapels, while officers searched their cells for an hour to four hours.
They sat with heads down or stood facing a wall.
They returned to their cells in the same physically intrusive manner.
Supervisors conceded that they executed shakedowns according to a uniform plan and policy.
The only dispute was whether policy reflected the version alleged by the plaintiffs or the one alleged by defendants.
Resolution of the question would provide a common answer as to the claims of the class.
Rovner wrote that 300 tactical team members stated in a survey that they saw no team member deviate from the common plan.
Jon Lovey of Chicago represents the class along with six lawyers in his firm and two in Uptown People’s Law of Chicago.
Eight assistant attorney generals represent the department along with two lawyers in private practice.