Chicago Bar Record

February/March, 2007

President’s Page

By: Kevin P. Durkin, President

Governance of Juvenile Detention Center to be Transferred to Chief Judge

On January 10, 2007, the Chicago Bar Association held an historic meeting with new Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Association’s Blue Ribbon Committee Report on the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, which was approved by the Board of Managers in November. The Blue Ribbon Committee’s report contained a number of major recommendations for reforming Cook County’s Juvenile Detention Center (JTDC). The most sweeping recommendation called for the County Board to transfer governance of the JTDC to the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court. The achievement of this recommendation was pivotal to implementing the other major recommendations contained in the Committee’s report.

Joining me at the meeting with President Stroger were our Second Vice President, Judge E. Kenneth Wright, Jr.; former Judge Patricia Brown Holmes, chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee; Executive Directory Terrence M. Murphy; and Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin. The Blue Ribbon Committee’s report may be viewed on the CBA’s web site at www.chicagobar.ord.

The Report noted that in every other Illinois county that operates a juvenile detention center, the governance of the center is under the chief judge of that county. A special study conducted by the Jane Addams Hull House Foundation supported this finding, and pointed out that additional state funding was possible with the transfer. All of use were pleased that President Stroger agreed to support the Association’s recommendation to transfer oversight of the JTDC to Chief Judge Timothy J. Evans. Stroger demonstrated outstanding leadership on this issue, and I commend him for his support.

The Association held a press conference the next day, at which time we released the Blue Ribbon Committee’s report and announced President Stroger’s support for a legislative initiative to make this important change. Attending the press conference to discuss the legislation were the co-sponsors, House Minority Leader Tom Cross, and State Representatives James Durkin ®) and David Miller (D). Judge Holmes discussed each of the recommendations contained in the Committee’s report. With President Stroger’s support, we are confident that this historic legislation will receive bi-partisan support and will be enacted in the upcoming session of the General Assembly.

As a backdrop to the meeting with President Stroger, the Committee concluded that a legislative change was critical to the successful implementation of short-and-long term reforms at the JTDC. The County Board’s ineffective management of the Center was chronicled for many years, in no fewer than 80 Chicago Tribune articles. The ACLU also filed suit against the County Board for a variety of alleged abuses by guards against the children housed at the Center. As a result of the ACLU’s lawsuit, the County Board hired the Anne Casey Foundation to conduct a comprehensive study of the JTDC. The Casey Foundation Study identified numerous problems at the Center and made a series of recommendations to improve the welfare of kids being detained there, including the need for measures to guarantee their safety, cleaner housing/sanitation, prompt medical assessment and treatment, and education training. In the wake of the Casey Foundation Study, allegations of abuse at the Center continued to appear in the press.

In December, 2005, then CBA President Michael B. Hyman and Executive Director Terrence M. Murphy met with former Cook County Board President John Stroger to discuss these alleged abuses. Hyman and Murphy suggested the appointment of an independent CBA committee to review the operation of the JTDC and to issue a public report. Stroger said that he had confidence in the CBA and welcomed the Association’s independent study. Holmes agreed to chair the blue Ribbon Committee, and a group of lawyers and lay experts in the field Juvenile Detention was recruited to serve on the Committee.

President Todd Stroger’s support for our recommendation to transfer the governance of the JTDC to the Chief Judge’s Office is an important first step in reforming Cook County’s tarnished detention center. But much more needs to be done, and that is why I have asked Judge Holmes and the Blue Ribbon Committee to work with the Chief Judge’s Office in implementing the Committee’s other recommendations. In addition, we have offered to work with President Stroger and Chief Judge Evans in the selection of a professional administrator to run the JTDC.

I am especially grateful to Judge Holmes and to each of the members of the Blue Ribbon Committee for their leadership and commitment. Our goal is to make Cook County’s JTDC a model detention center. I am also grateful to State Representatives Tom Cross, Jim Durkin, and David Miller for their sponsorship of this important legislation. You can be assured that our Blue Ribbon Committee will continue to play an important role in the reform of the JTDC.