Capitol Briefs: Grayson personnel file released, Stateville inmates ask to be moved

By CNI STAFF
Capitol News Illinois
news@capitolnewsillinois.com

The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department late Wednesday released the personnel file of former deputy Sean Grayson, who is accused of the murder of Sonya Massey. 

Massey was shot to death in her home last month after calling for help during a mental health crisis. Grayson was fired after he was charged with first-degree murder last month.

READ MORE: CNI Investigates the death of Sonya Massey

The 163-page personnel file begins in March of 2021, when Grayson applied to the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department. At the time, he was working part-time at both the Pawnee and Kincaid Police Departments.

In his application he listed an Illinois State Police trooper, a Capitol Police Officer and a former Army buddy as references. On his application Grayson wrote that he had received an honorable discharge from the military. His discharge papers included with his personnel file show that Grayson was issued a general discharge under honorable circumstances and did not finish his term of duty.

In Grayson's background investigation, Scott Butterfield, a longtime deputy with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department, provided a reference. In his interview, Butterfield said that Grayson was “a mellow and non-confrontational person.” Butterfield also disclosed that Grayson was dating his daughter. The two were scheduled to marry in October.

Grayson underwent a psychological examination in March 2023 as part of the hiring process. Thomas Champion, a licensed psychologist, recommended Grayson as qualified for the job, but noted the assessment was subjective, not predictive. 

Champion noted that Grayson scored low on the cognitive assessment and concluded that it will take Grayson “longer to learn, process and apply new materials as compared to others.” He further found that Grayson was “rigid and linear” in his thinking.

“He knows he can move too fast at times. He needs to slow down to make good decisions,” Champion wrote. 

Champion added that experience and training would help.

The personnel file includes a letter written on Jan. 25, 2024, by Sheriff Jack Campbell. In the letter, Campbell passed along a compliment he received about Grayson from a woman who was the victim of a burglary and fraud. 

“It’s professionalism like you displayed that makes a difference to the people you come into contact with,” Campbell wrote. “Thank you for your diligence in your duties and for remembering that helping the citizens in Sangamon County of the main role we play.”

Massey, 36, was unarmed when she was shot in the kitchen of her home on July 6. She called the police to request help after she said she heard someone outside of her house. 

Stateville prisoners ask judge to move or release them

A little more than a month after 51-year-old Michael Broadway died inside Stateville Correctional Center, those incarcerated in the prison this week asked a judge to force the transfer – or release – of men serving time in the nearly 100-year-old facility.

Chicago law firm Loevy and Loevy filed the motion as part of an ongoing federal class action lawsuit, Dobbey v. Weilding, that claims the state’s failure to properly maintain Stateville has led to dangerous and unsanitary conditions, rendering the prison in Crest Hill uninhabitable. 

The filing asks the federal court overseeing the case to order the Illinois Department of Corrections to create a plan of transfer or release of all class members of the lawsuit by August 12, while requesting all transfers or releases happen by September 20.

The motion – which states class members “reported excessive heat and poor ventilation” the day Broadway died – also references a state-commissioned facilities report published last year that called Stateville one of three Illinois prisons that were nearly “inoperable.”

Gov. JB Pritzker has cited the report as a catalyst for his March announcement that he’d seek to close and rebuild both Stateville and Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln.

Read more: Stateville may close as early as September under Pritzker’s prison plan | Lawmakers pass on oversight vote for Pritzker’s prison closure, rebuild plan

In a series of hearings in May and June, IDOC officials indicated they planned to keep Logan open while building a new facility – which may move to the Stateville campus – but could close Stateville as soon as September, temporarily moving those inmates to other prisons during the rebuild process. 

The plans face significant opposition from surrounding communities and AFSCME, the union that represents most correctional officers and other prison workers, though they all agreed that the facilities’ need for improvements was dire.

Would-be staff union pushes back on Speaker Welch

Staffers for Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch are pushing back on the speaker’s arguments that a judge should dismiss a lawsuit filed against him to force recognition of their union.

In a new filing this week, the would-be union dubbed the Illinois Legislative Staff Association once again asked a Cook County judge to rule that Welch is depriving his staff of the right to organize and collectively bargain, thus violating a voter-approved 2022 addition to the state constitution that guarantees Illinois workers that right.

Read more: Members of House speaker’s staff sue over ongoing unionization conflict | Speaker Welch rebuffs lawsuit from would-be staff union as ‘forum shopping’

Welch has maintained the Workers Rights Amendment doesn’t change a state law that specifically bars legislative employees from being able to form a union and has pointed to his sponsorship and passage of legislation through the House that would change the law. 

But the bill has not made any progress in the Senate, which ILSA alleges is evidence of Welch privately colluding with Senate President Don Harmon to stop their unionization effort.

Read more: House approves framework allowing legislative staff to unionize

ILSA sued Welch in May and in June, the speaker claimed the lawsuit was “forum shopping” after the Illinois Labor Relations Board refused to certify the union in 2023. He also pointed to the fact that ILSA failed to appeal the ILRB’s decision as evidence the would-be union’s lawsuit was merely posturing.

But the ILSA this week said the state board’s decision told them to instead resolve the issue in the courts, and called Welch’s argument to the contrary “bizarre.”

Efforts to protect election workers

A new state law is changing the kind of identification badge that election judges and poll workers wear in Illinois in an effort to protect their safety.

Starting this year, the badges will no longer display the person’s name, ward, precinct, or township. Instead, they will wear badges with a unique identification number that say they’re authorized by their local court.

That was one of several changes made in an omnibus elections bill, House Bill 4488, Pritzker signed into law last month.

Tazwell County Clerk John Ackerman said at a news conference Thursday that the change is intended to protect election workers by deescalating potentially tense situations at the polls.

“When they approach the individual, they’ll talk to ‘Betty Sue’ differently than they’ll talk to an officer of the circuit court,” he said. “So that little pause … may give them time to think about what they want to say, how they want to say it, and just gives them the few minutes of pause before they continue.” 

The Illinois State Board of Elections also provides emergency contact information that can be put on the back in case an incident does happen. 

Election authorities say they are working to add protections in and around polling places as another layer of election security. 

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.