J.B.H. v. Knox County

In June 2024, we filed a class action lawsuit challenging conditions at the Mary Davis Detention Home on behalf of two young people confined there, J.B.H. and A.M. The Mary Davis Detention Home (MDH) in Galesburg, Illinois detained youth from Northwestern Illinois as they awaited sentencing. The ACLU’s investigation, as well as a number of public audits and independent reviews of the facility, showed that officials continued to use abusive, extended solitary confinement as a punishment for the young people detained at MDH.

The youth detained at MDH spent a majority of their time in solitary confinement. But the facility also imposed enhanced solitary confinement as a punishment, subjecting youth to a so-called “Special Group Status,” where they were placed on a 23-hour-a-day lockdown that often lasts weeks or months on end.

The practice of extended solitary confinement is well-known to cause lasting harm, especially to children who are still developing mentally and physically. But MDH officials confined young people in tiny concrete cells with fluorescent lights that remain lit at all times. They forced youth on confinement status to eat alone, just a few steps away from the toilet they regularly used, and deprived them of meaningful human interaction.

MDH officials also did not provide adequate mental health services to support the youth, many of whom had substantial mental health issues caused and compounded by their detention and isolation. The facility also failed to provide adequate education to the youth in its care.

MDH staff conducted invasive, facility-wide strip searches of youth – forcing them to strip completely naked in front of multiple staff, bend over, and perform jumping jacks. In one reported instance, a youth was held down while staff forcibly cut his clothes off with a knife.

In October 2025, a federal court blocked officials at MDH continuing to subject the young people confined at the facility from being held in abusive, extended solitary confinement. The court specifically ordered that youth should not be detained in a cell or room (except during normal sleeping hours) other than as a temporary restriction to prevent imminent physical harm, with the confinement to cease once that threat is passed. And, the court also ordered that once a youth is identified as being at risk of suicide and self-harm they cannot be placed in solitary confinement and must be adequately supervised and receive appropriate and prompt emergency mental healthcare. Officials at MDH were ordered to develop a plan to make the required improvements for youth held at the facility.

The Court rejected Mary Davis Home officials’ first attempt at a plan as inadequate in January 2026.On January 30, 2026, Knox County officials announced that they would close the facility permanently. The facility closed in March 2026. In May 2026, we officially moved to dismiss the lawsuit. As part of the dismissal, the Defendants publicly stipulated that they do not plan to take any actions to bring about the reopening of MDH for use as a detention facility, that they are not aware of any plan by other parties or entities to reopen MDH for use as a detention facility, and that they will continue to retain discoverable documents for 18 months. The dismissal is “without prejudice,” thus allowing us to re-file if circumstances change.