Prosecutors and police officers have been sending too much DNA to the Illinois State Police crime lab. People are waiting in jail as a result of the massive backlog. Plus, schools across Illinois badly need more teachers. One statewide program has been trying to recruit more of them, as early as high school. Also, earlier this year a prison in Danville removed 200 books from an education program library. But now, after public pressure, the books are back in the prison. And after more than a century, the Chicago Defender will no longer be available in print. 

Last week, Illinois Newsroom reported on the removal of more than 200 books from the shelves of a college in prison program’s library inside the Danville Correctional Center in east-central Illinois. Several authors and editors of books that were removed from the EJP library agreed to speak to Illinois Newsroom.