Helm v. Washington

Plaintiff Donald Helm brought a mandamus action against defendant Odie Washington, Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC). Plaintiff claimed that he was entitled to 180 days of meritorious good-conduct credit, which defendant arbitrarily denied. On defendant’s motion, the trial court found the petition frivolous and dismissed it. In this appeal, plaintiff contends that (1) the trial court erred in denying mandamus relief; (2) the court erred in finding his petition frivolous; and (3) defendant denied him due process of law by failing to ensure that plaintiff had meaningful…