RACINE, Wis. — After a grueling fight for his rightful release, Carl Rogers walked free from Robinson Correctional Center on February 14, 2025. His journey, however, highlights a much larger issue—one that still leaves thousands of incarcerated individuals waiting for sentence reductions they have already earned.
Rogers was released under a 2024 Illinois law that grants time off sentences for work and education. By his calculations, he should have been freed in January 2024, when the law first took effect. However, bureaucratic failures and outdated record-keeping within the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) kept him behind bars for an additional year.
A System Plagued by Record-Keeping Failures
A December 2023 internal report obtained by WBEZ and Open Campus revealed that IDOC knew it lacked a functional system for tracking sentence credits before the law even went into effect. The report estimated that digitizing all records necessary for proper credit calculations could take until 2029—leaving countless inmates trapped in the system far longer than they should be.
Rogers refused to accept this delay. After WBEZ reported on his case, he and other inmates at Robinson Correctional Center staged a hunger strike, demanding IDOC review their cases. His perseverance paid off, and he was finally freed after 32 years in prison.
“It was bittersweet because I had to fight for my freedom,” Rogers said. “But these last two weeks have been elating.”
Many Still Await Justice
Rogers’ case is not unique. Angela Bowers, incarcerated since 1995, has also struggled to receive credit for work and education completed before IDOC transitioned to digital records in 2010. A recent counseling report confirmed that IDOC is only awarding partial credit for work done before 2018, contradicting lawmakers’ intentions for the law.
A lawsuit challenging IDOC’s refusal to award retroactive credit is currently making its way through the courts. If successful, the case could lead to sentence reductions for thousands.
Rogers, now free, is focused on rebuilding his life. Yet, he continues to advocate for others still fighting for justice.
“Just adhere to the law,” he said. “It’s not complicated.”
