As we approach Giving Tuesday, I’d like to talk to you about how your donation enables NCLEJ to make a meaningful difference for the communities we serve.
Imagine a reentry housing system that stops people with disabilities at the door, turns them around, and sends them back to prison — not because they’ve done anything wrong, but purely because they are disabled and the housing providers refuse to provide disability accommodations. In Illinois, this is the reality for thousands of people returning to their communities, including our client, Mark Davenport.
This week, we filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Corrections and multiple private entities over their failure to provide disability accommodations for Mr. Davenport, who is on Mandatory Supervised Release (MSR), Illinois’ version of parole.
Our client has multiple chronic health conditions, including degenerative disc disease that causes significant pain and limits major life activities. Upon release to his first MSR host site, our client was placed on the third floor and denied a first-floor placement and other accommodations, despite struggling to walk and stand. When our client asked for simple accommodations for his condition, he was met with a two-worded response from staff: “Hell no.”
Because IDOC failed to accommodate our client’s physical disabilities when he was in the community, he was sent back to prison unnecessarily for four months. His current MSR host site has again denied him reasonable accommodations, and he now faces the daily risk of reincarceration.
Our lawsuit seeks relief and damages for the disability discrimination to which our client — and countless other disabled people in IDOC custody — has been and continues to be subjected. We look forward to arguing on behalf of our client in court, and shining a much-needed light on IDOC’s discriminatory policies that irreparably harm disabled people.
P.S. If you have already donated, please consider forwarding this email to five of your friends! You can serve as a force-multiplier by spreading the word about NCLEJ’s advocacy.
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice advances racial and economic justice through ground-breaking impact litigation, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizing. We have provided legal representation and support since 1965.
