Prisons and Retaliation

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Staff say more than a hundred letters a week come in from prisons, and they read and respond to every single one. The stories he heard from people inside often unfold like this. An incarcerated person will do something a guard doesn't like, maybe something big, like an assault, throwing a bodily fluid,. Maybe something small, like just running his mouth. Then staff will retaliate. Conveniently, forget to give someone a meal, maybe get physical, maybe use pepper spray. And itwill keep escalating, over and over again - the same pattern.

Pontiac Correctional Center is a maximum security prison in the small town of Pontiac, Illinois. It’s the oldest in the state - founded in 1871 - and has a reputation for being one of the most violent. There is a guard at Pontiac who some staff praise for being tough and having their backs. But other staff and people in the prison say she is known for abuse. In 2019, she was investigated by the Department of Corrections and State Police. Investigators had obtained 427 of the guard’s emails, revealing the conversations she’d had with other staff when it seemed like no one was looking.

This episode is in collaboration with the podcast Motive, from WBEZ Chicago, hosted by Shannon Heffernan. Season 4 of Motive investigates the hidden world of big prisons in small towns.

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