Illinois Correction Officials Stonewall Records Requests After Incident

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Illinois corrections officials have denied repeated requests of the Sauk Valley Newspapers for records related to prison safety procedures following a convicted rapist’s in-prison kidnapping and sexual assault of a prison psychologist. The incident led to a 25-hour standoff in May. The paper noted that employees had complained, before the incident, of understaffing, blind spots in hallways, and faulty equipment. Three separate requests for records under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act have been denied or resulted in minimal information being released, the paper said. 1/2/07)