A judge has said three sex offenders can press a class action against the Illinois Department of Corrections, which claims the Department improperly makes paroled offenders gain state approval before having contact with their own minor children.
The Nov. 10 decision was issued by Judge Gary Feinerman, of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The ruling favored plaintiffs Celina Montoya, Zachary Blaye and Ronald Molina in their action against Rob Jeffreys, Acting Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Blaye and Molina were convicted of sex crimes in Cook County; Montoya was convicted in Lake County, records showed. They served prison terms and were paroled.
Adele Nicholas
In March 2018, the three offenders sued the Department, saying the requirement the Department must approve contact, either direct or indirect, between paroled offenders and their own children, violates the offenders' constitutional right to due process. They seek no money, only that the Department be ordered to drop the requirement. The state has since permitted Blaye and Montoya to visit their children, but Blaye and Montoya wished to remain in the suit.
Offenders must pay for therapy sessions and polygraph tests before a decision is made whether to allow contact. Polygraph examinations cost between $200 and $400, court documents said. The Department said 35 days pass on average before a decision is made, although months can elapse in some cases.
According to court papers, there are 550 paroled sex offenders in Illinois, of whom about 200 are presumed to have minor children.
Judge Feinerman said the suit meets the criteria to proceed as a class action, although he removed Montoya as a class representative. Feinerman said Montoya's sentencing judge put an order in effect safeguarding Montoya's ability to contact her children, which has allowed Montoya to live with her offspring since her parole.
Otherwise, Feinerman was not moved by the Department's arguments against turning the suit into a class action.
One of the Department's failed contentions was the three offenders "have had widely varying interactions" and "varying circumstances" with parole authorities regarding their requests for contact, which renders a class action untenable. Feinerman dismissed this argument by pointing out plaintiffs are not suing, as individuals, to have or maintain contact with their children, but rather are challenging the Departments' child contact policy.
Montoya, Blaye and Molina are represented by Chicago lawyers Mark G. Weinberg and Adele D. Nicholas.
The Department of Corrections is defended by Kelly C. Bauer, Sarah H. Newman and Erin Walsh of the Illinois Attorney General's Office.