ISCC PLANNING TO GO BACK TO FEEDING PRISONERS IN THE CHOW HALL

In notes from the last "town hall" meeting between [self-serving] inmates and prison administrators, staff indicated they are planning to reopen the inmate dining room (chow hall) at the ISCC for breakfast and supper meals sometime in June or July, 2024.

While there has been no official announcement of the opening of the chow hall, a May 6, 2024 memorandum from the ISCC Housing Lieutenant regarding new methods of testing and feeding diabetic prisoners (in the chow hall) in the evenings going into effect on May 13, 2024 seems to corroborate the town hall notes and the move towards feeding general population prisoners in the dining room rather than providing meals in Styrofoam trays to be taken back to housing units to eat.

The ISCC prisoner chow hall has not been used to feed the general population for more than 3 years due to Covid-19 and other restrictions. The chow hall has always been one of the most dangerous areas of the prison for both staff and prisoners alike when filled with nearly 300 prisoners from various areas of the facility.