Class Action-IDOC Policy Restricting Contact

Listen to this article

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Celina Montoya v. Rob Jeffreys

Case No.: 22-2791

Officials: Wood, Kirsch, and Jackson-Akiwumi, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Class Action-IDOC Policy Restricting Contact

The case concerns a class action lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) by four parents convicted of sex offenses and undergoing mandatory supervised release (MSR). These parents contested an IDOC policy limiting contact between them and their minor children during MSR, alleging it violates their Fourteenth Amendment rights to procedural and substantive due process.

Initially, the district court upheld most aspects of the policy but found its prohibition on written communications unconstitutional. It mandated that IDOC allow parents to submit written communications to their children for review within seven days. The plaintiffs appealed, challenging restrictions on phone and in-person contact.

The Seventh Circuit affirmed parts of the district court’s decision and overturned others. While agreeing that the policy doesn’t breach procedural due process, it deemed the ban on phone contact a violation of substantive due process. The court proposed call monitoring as a feasible alternative, preserving the plaintiffs’ right to bond with their children with minimal impact on IDOC’s penological interests.

Affirmed and reversed.

Decided 04/18/24

Full Text