Illinois

Report Shows Increase in Solitary Confinement in Cook County Facility (May 2018)

Solitary confinement of juveniles on the rise in Cook County

Illinois Litigation Leads to Policy Limiting Solitary Confinement (2015)

On May 4, 2015, as part of a lawsuit, R.J. v. Jones, filed in 2012 by the ACLU of Illinois against the state over dangerous conditions in juvenile facilities, Illinois limited the use of solitary confinement. The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice created a policy that limits the use of isolation for Illinois’s six state-run juvenile facilities. Click here to read more about the settlement from the ACLU of Illinois, including a summary of the policy and the lawsuit. Under the policy, isolation is not permitted as punishment. Youth who are isolated must be provided regular education and mental health services and, if in isolation for more than 24 hours, they must be out of their rooms interacting with staff for at least 8 hours each day.