We, Illinois citizens and common folk abroad submit this petition in regards to the visiting circumstances at Pontiac Correctional centre in Pontiac Illinois. Throughout Rob Jeffreys tenure as director of IDOC, he has advocated for bettering relations between inmates and family members, more productive programs, simply bettering the quality of incarceration for prisoners. These things are admirable indeed. However, it's unclear if he's aware that Pontiac correctional centre is the only prison in Illinois that does not have contact visits. The visits there, even pre-pandemic, have always been behind glass only; it has been that way for the last 2 decades or so. We as family members have loved ones there who are not in segregation and as you may no Pontiac is not an all segregation institution anymore. It is a multi-status facility: general population, protective custody, mental health, segregation and administrative detention.
  To broadly allow 99% of non-segregation inmates in Illinois, who arent on visiting restrictions and who are also A grade offenders, contact visits and deny the 1% of inmates in Pontiac who are equally in good standing restricted visits is a form of discrimination and a violation of there Constitutional rights. Upon information and beliefs, this is one of the reasons for Pontiac's high mental health rate. Inmates incarcerated there who are adhering to the rules and regulations should not be subjected to disciplinary-type visitations.
Senior officials in Pontiac have gotten away with this for years by claiming that allowing inmates a "meet-and-greet"(twenty-second hug and kiss at the beginning and end) Surfices as a contact visit.
Yet, not only does every other institution provide contact visits—which entail congregating at tables, drinking beverages, eating food,  colouring books cloth toys for children—but they all also provide a meet and greet as standard procedure. Therefore, merely allowing Pontiac inmates a meet and greet does not cure said imbalances.
Thus we are asking you, Mr Jefferys, to please change this situation.
Additionally, in the same building as the current visiting room, there is an officers' kitchen that is no longer being used, as a new officers kitchen has been erected more in the centre of the institution, yet the old officer's kitchen is still operable and has tables and chairs and vending machines. What's more, is that it actually served as the contact visiting room many years ago, and, again, is not being used at all right now. Upon information and belief, it only has minor plumbing issues.
We respectfully submit this as a personal/formal notification involving the issues therein.