The Illinois Department of Corrections has enacted an emergency rule to prevent contraband from entering its prisons through letters and books sent to people in prison.
IDOC will electronically scan mail and provide a digital copy or paper copy to an incarcerated person. The rule also specifies that books, magazines and other publications can only come through the prison’s mailroom from the publisher.
After a series of incidents last fall that left dozens of correctional personnel hospitalized after exposure to substances or overdoses in the prison population, IDOC introduced the rule under pressure from Republicans and the prison workers’ union.
