Overcrowding at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Facility is falling, the Chicago Tribune reports. An agreement was reached in 2002 as a result of an ACLU of Illinois lawsuit to address population and safety concerns within the facility. In 2007, Earl Dunlap was appointed to run the facility and was tasked with addressing overpopulation. While overcrowding was the main concern of the lawsuit, other issues have yet to be tackled, including concerns over unsanitary conditions, and even violence by staff against the youth.
Benjamin Wolf, associate legal director of the ACLU of Illinois, which filed the federal suit that led to Dunlap's appointment, also praised efforts to lower the population but cautioned that "there's more to be done."
