Citing a pervasive and continuing climate of violence and chaos - including instances of staff members administering chokeholds, smashing teeth and causing other serious injuries during the beating of youngsters -- lawyers for the class of children detained at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) asked a federal district court judge in Chicago to appoint a qualified juvenile justice professional to design and oversee implementation of long-overdue improvements at the facility. That request, made in a court filing today, comes after a nearly three year process during which Cook County missed countless deadlines and failed to implement promised changes contained in a Federal Court approved settlement designed to protect the safety of juveniles at the facility. Instead of making the facility safer for the juveniles housed there, the County produced a "catalogue of empty promises." As a result of the County's indifference and inactivity, the JTDC remains a dangerous place, where adult staff repeatedly uses physical violence on the juveniles, young persons routinely are isolated in their rooms for more than 24 hours as punishment for minor rules violations, and juveniles' basic needs go unmet.

The stated purpose of the settlement approved by the Federal court is to assure that the juveniles at the JTDC reside "in an environment that, at a minimum, is safe and clean, and is free from excessive and unfair discipline, and provides adequate care and services, including adequate food, shelter, medical services, mental health care, and provides an adequate environment for educational services." Because the County failed to implement the agreement, juveniles at the JTDC experience the following: 1) continued high levels of violence, threats and intimidation resulting in serious injuries such as broken bones, broken teeth, cuts, bruises and bleeding; 2) an on-going practice of harsh and arbitrary discipline meted out against juveniles; and, 3) the lack of any basic system for the management, staffing and supervision necessary to provide a safe environment and adequate services to the children. In one incident cited in the filing, a youth counselor at the JTDC kicked a juvenile in the mouth, knocking out the youth's front teeth. In another instance, a male adult employee entered a young woman's room, choked the woman and struck her in the face. Another account included tells of a young man punched by an adult staff member. The youth's face became badly infected, requiring hospitalization - care inexplicably delayed for several days. These three incidents reflect a fraction of the examples of abuse and neglect that juveniles at the JTDC continue to report to their lawyers and others.

Reports by two independent, court-appointed monitors last month documented the dangerous conditions at the JTDC. Monitors described chronic problems at the JTDC, including the use of inappropriate physical restraint by adult staff at the facility. One report noted that key staff positions remain vacant for an undue period of time, vacancies that "impede" the County's ability to fulfill the requirements of the agreement.

"Three years of denial and delay make it clear that the County is not capable of making positive changes at JTDC - the court must appoint a juvenile justice professional to develop and oversee the implementation of a plan that leads to real improvement," said Benjamin Wolf, Associate Legal Director for the ACLU of Illinois. "They have never met a deadline without weeks or months of delay. They have not hired qualified staff to develop a comprehensive, cohesive plan that improves the deplorable conditions at the facility. No system yet exists to hire, train and oversee staff to operate the facility. The chaotic, violent conditions that plagued our clients years ago are not improved. "

The motion submitted today to U.S. District Court Judge John Nordberg in Chicago asks the court to appoint a Manager with expertise in juvenile correctional planning and administration to develop an implementation plan (within sixty days) that brings the JTDC into compliance with the settlement agreement. Lawyers for the ACLU of Illinois believe that the Manager is necessary to ensure that the County develops a management and information system that provides adequate services and physical protection for the juveniles at the facility.

"The is not an abstract political discussion about the need for County government to reform," said Professor Thomas Geraghty, Director of the Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern University School of Law and court-approved "next friend" for the class of juveniles at the JTDC. "The County's resistance and inertia fosters an environment in which children are at risk of physical violence and lack of basic services. The JTDC needs professional management with the independence and the power to make the changes that will guarantee the health and safety of the children confined there. The plaintiffs in this lawsuit have exerted every effort to work with the County to see that necessary improvements be made. Unfortunately, this process has not worked. The court should now act to force change the County seems unwilling or incapable of instituting on its own."

The call for the Manager is the latest action in a lawsuit, Jimmy Doe v. Cook County, first filed in June 1999. Extensive discovery and negotiations resulted in a settlement, approved by Judge Nordberg in December 2002. The court-approved agreement compelled the County to develop an Implementation Plan and submit the plan to the ACLU of Illinois and to the court by March of 2003. The Implementation Plan was supposed to be the key step in bringing the JTDC into compliance with the agreement by December of 2003. Instead, the County failed to produce the Implementation Plan until January of 2004. And, the Plan produced by the County failed to include the specific steps for improvement detailed in the agreement.

"At every step of this process the County has failed to meet the deadlines and requirements of their agreement to improve conditions at the JTDC," said Wolf. "Unfortunately, the County's delay and lack of commitment resulted in violence and inadequate care for hundreds of juveniles in their care. We urge the Court to appoint a professional who can insure that improvements are identified and implemented without further unnecessary delay."

• Download the Jimmy Doe court filing