Stateville Correctional Center

I disagree. 5 stars for the previous review! It’s not so bad there. Apparently they even provide a diet very high in soy that allows the inmates to use their intestinal discomfort as a much needed distraction from the imminent rape. Not much help with their religious needs though but I’m pretty sure god has turned his back on them already anyway so what’s the point? Not to mention that sweet roundhouse with no confusing corners. Got to love those panopticon principles. Sure wish they had that at the haunted prison. And more gang fights. It’s not Halloween without a gang fight.

Go figure, a prison with a 1 star review… seems sort of fitting, doesn’t it?
I’ve been visiting an inmate here for several years now, and I have to say that for the most part, this place personifies government workers in Illinois. We are on their time. If it’s your first time visiting Stateville, get ready to be denied access, even if you’re on the inmate’s approved list. It’s happened to pretty much everyone that I know. They try to tell you you’re not on the list. They tried telling me that maybe he forgot to put his sister down because he put his OTHER sister on the list and he needed to put both of us on there (uh, not the case. My brother may be an idiot for other reasons, but not putting his immediate family on a visitors list so that he could have contact with the outside world and food other than the garbage they serve on the line isn’t something that he would do).
On multiple occasions, we’ve been check in (and check in, and searched, and checked in, and checked in one more time, just to make sure that we — two females — didn’t switch identities with any of the male inmates) and assigned a visiting table just to wait over an hour and a half for the inmate to come downstairs. Apparently the guards only get the prisoners if they feel like it.
The vending machines used to be way overpriced, but I guess enough visitors complained (wrote to their elected officials in Springfield) that the prices are now somewhat reasonable. What hasn’t been fixed, however, are the machines themselves. Every time we go, at least one machine is out of order. More often than not, there is little to no food in them (and I use the term «food» very loosely) and/​or it’s expired (especially the fruit/​veggie packs).
I’ve been told that the infrastructure of the actual prison is deteriorating badly, with crumbling walls where daylight can be seen through the cracks (real safe, right?). The prison is filled beyond capacity, and with the recent closing of yet another prison, it’s even more so.
Correctional Facilities are supposed to be rehabilitative, but I’ve seen my brother’s mental state continually decline as a result of being locked up here as he awaits an appeal (another story for another time). The gangs are pretty fierce, even though they pretty much leave unaffiliated people alone (Neutrons are what they’re called), and it’s not uncommon for the whole place to go on lockdown when a fight erupts (between rival gang members or sometimes between guards and inmates). With such a savage environment, essentially a walled hole where people to go be forgotten, it’s no wonder that there are so many repeat offenders.

The previous review isn’t funny, and it’s probably not funny to the 3700 or so involuntary residents here.
To be fair to Bill, I’m much more disgusted by the «Stateville Haunted Prison,» that starts advertising every year around this time. Is there any worse way to trivialize real people being really incarcerated then to name a haunted house after the institution?
Stateville is one of the largest level 1 (maximum) security prisons in the Illinois DOC. Architecturally, its one of the most interesting. It was built in 1925 based on panopticon principles. According to this concept, the wardens and other inmates would control behavior by their constant surveillance. Each cell house was an enormous cylinder, where every cell can see the other cells on the same level. One of these roundhouses remains in use, the last in the country.
I’ve never been inside the Stateville roundhouse, but you can see the interior in the Jimmy Stewart movie Call Northside 777, based on the wrongful conviction (and eventual, serendipitous release) of Joseph Majczek. One tragedy of this prison is that the Majczek is certainly not the only wrongful convict to lose years of his life here.
From the perspective of an inmate, Stateville is a pretty bad prison. Inmates with gang affiliations are generally not allowed to transfer out of it, so Stateville might be one of the more violent prisons with most frequent lockdowns (except maybe Tamms – you really don’t want to be in Tamms). Like all of the Illinois DOC prisons, food is not great; it is high in soy, and the digestive systems of many inmates do not tolerate it well. They are also relatively unaccommodating to special dietary and religious needs.
From the perspective of a visitor, Stateville is conveniently located somewhat close to Chicago. Some inmates appreciate that their families can visit more often. It might have the most active visiting section in the Illinois DOC.

Terrible food, but not a bad place to find a date.