On September 13, 2018, the plaintiff filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. The plaintiff, an author of a Pulitzer-prize winning book about the Attica Prison uprising, wished for her book to be made available to prisoners who are under the authority of the Illinois Department of Correction (IDOC). Her complaint alleged that the defendants, employees of IDOC, improperly censored her book by preventing it from being distributed in some of the prisons in the state. The complaint further alleged a violation of the plaintiff's free speech and due process rights, because there was no process available to challenge the censorship.

The case was assigned to Judge Sue E. Myerscough. The Uptown People's Law Center represent the plaintiff.

The most recent amended complaint was filed by the plaintiff on April 30, 2019. The defendants filed their answer on June 4, 2019. The parties continued discovery through the spring and summer of 2020; they also considered mediation.

Subsequently, on September 29, 2020, the plaintiff filed for partial summary judgment and the defendants filed a separate motion for summary judgment one day later. In late October, the parties filed their respective response motions. The court granted a joint motion to continue the trial date pending the cross-motions for summary judgment, which had originally been scheduled for February 16, 2021. As of March 30, 2021, the case is ongoing and the dates have not yet been rescheduled.

Elizabeth Heise - 10/04/2018
Alex Moody - 04/05/2020
Lily Sawyer-Kaplan - 03/30/2021


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