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As part of their transformative justice plan, IDJJ has recently requested over $21mil (!!!) in a capital development plan surrounding the plot of land known as the Lincoln Developmental Center. (1/10)
This site has a tortured history as a punitive detention center and cannot operate as a restorative space for youth. Here’s a thread on why the Lincoln project is merely a resized replication of the youth prison model. (2/10)
The Lincoln Developmental Center was founded in 1875 as the Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children. Renamed the Lincoln State School in 1954 and then the Lincoln Developmental Center in 1975, the facility housed “mentally ill children” and families. (3/10)
According to historian David Bakke, "conditions at the Lincoln State School were horrible; overcrowded and understaffed. It was a community unto itself. The deaths of residents were not investigated, and their bodies were buried on the grounds." (4/10) https://www.sj-r.com/news/20160204/dave-bakke-old-lincoln-state-mental-facility-still-causes-grief
In 1978, the farm-annex of Lincoln Development Center became Logan Correctional Center, an adult female medium-security state prison. Later, Lincoln Correctional Center, a male medium-security state prison, was built adjacent to Logan. (5/10) https://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php/Lincoln_State_School
In 2002, Governor George Ryan closed Lincoln Development Center after reports of abuse, neglect, and preventable deaths. It has remained out of use since 2002. (6/10)
Now, IDJJ wants to recuperate this facility (just down the street from 2 IDOC state prisons) as a home for youth in state custody. In no way is this an appropriate site for anyone to be housed. (7/10)
In closing #IYCStCharles, the state must not move youth into new prison sites. Closing St. Charles and opening Lincoln Developmental Center would effectively just move the carceral footprint of the state from St Charles to Lincoln. (8/10)
No matter how the state plans to recuperate the facility, it cannot extricate Lincoln Developmental Center from its long history of abuse. LDC cannot be a rehabilitative space for youth. (9/10)
Instead of spending $21mil on building a new youth prison, IDJJ and @GovPritzker should invest in communities which are most criminalized by the state. Invest in housing, education, and health care!! Not Lincoln Developmental Center!! (10/10)
Read our full response to the transformation plan here: https://www.thefinal5campaign.com/blog/a-response-to-idjjs-transformation-plan
