Dying, disabled prisoners stay behind bars, despite Illinois law calling for medical release

Joe Coleman (right), seen getting an award from warden Thomas F. Page at the Menard Correctional Center, was a decorated Army veteran who died of prostate cancer while in prison. An Illinois law named for him allows prisoners to request early release if they’re terminally ill and expected to die within 18 months or if they’re medically incapacitated and need help with more than one activity of daily living, such as eating or using the bathroom. (Illinois Prison Project)

Phillip Merritt’s dementia is so advanced he’s lost the ability to speak. But with the help of his cellmates at Western Illinois Correctional Center, Merritt, 71, still manages to get on the phone with his brother every few weeks.

“He has to have someone call me, and then I don’t know what to say to him because he can’t understand anything, so I’ll just talk,” Michael Merritt said. “All he can say are two words. … I mean, he’s just gone.”