Chicago Bar Record

November, 2006

President’s Page

By: Kevin P. Durkin, President

Reforming Cook County’s Tarnished Juvenile Detention Center

Chicago in 1898 was a city on the move. For the first time in its history, the city’s population surpassed one million, DePaul University and the University of Chicago’s College of Commerce and Politics were founded as was the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, originally called the Chicago Butter & Egg board. Chicago was home to more than 54 bicycle clubs with a collective membership of more than 10,000. Berghoff’s Restaurant opened for business as did numerous clubs including The Women’s Athletic Club. Jane Addams published her famous book, Why the Ward Boss Rules, and along with Ellen Gates Starr began laying the groundwork for the establishment of Hull House the following year. The CBA was approaching its 25th anniversary and was led by President George Follansbee. Also, in 1898 there were no less than 575 youngsters locked up on the city’s main jail for various crimes. These kids were subject to many abuses, and were treated no differently than adult offenders.

As the request of Julia Lathrop and Lucy Flower of the Jane Addams’ Hull House and the Illinois State Board of Charities, President Follansbee appointed a special CBA committee headed by Harvey B. Hurd to propose "passable legislation" to provide for a special court to address juvenile problems. In early December of 1898, Hurds’ Committee met with a large group of supporters including Timothy D. Hurley, head of the Catholic Visitation and Aid Society, Misses Flower and Lathrop, Dr. Hasting H. Hart, Superintendent of the Illinois Children’s Home and Aid Society, A.G. Lane, Superintendent of the County Jail, and State Representative John F. Newcomer, who expressed strong interest in sponsoring this novel legislation.

Hurd and the Special Committee drafted the bill in three weeks that provided for the establishment of a Juvenile Court in which a Circuit Judge would hear cases involving children 16 years or younger. This historic legislation also had a number of key features which provided that:

• No court or magistrate was to commit a child under 12 to post bail to a jail or police station but instead to a suitable place.
• No complaints, indictments or warrants could be issued against a child--petitions and summons were to be presented in the new Juvenile Court.
• No child accused of a crime would be seized by the police but would be brought to the court by a parent, guardian and/or probation officer.
• No child could be locked up in a jail or any enclosure in which adults were confined.
• Children found guilty of an offense would be committed to the care of a probation officer and/or friendly institution.
• Court proceedings would be informed with the prime objective being to determine what course of action was best for the child.

On February 7, 1898, Newcomer introduced the bill officially as "An Act to Regulate the Treatment and Control of Dependent Neglected and Delinquent Children." The Bill received wide support in the General Assembly. In addition, strong support came from First Assistant State’s Attorney Albert C. Barnes, who said "...this act...will prove the dawn of a new era in our criminal history and of a brighter day for the people of Illinois."

The CBA’s historic legislation passed both houses and was signed into law by Governor John R. Tanner on April 21, 1899, and became effective on July 1 of that year. The creation of a Juvenile Court in Cook County was the first of its kind in the United States. Proudly, Chicago was leading the nation, and indeed the world, in progressive legislation for the detention and treatment of juvenile offenders. Now, 107 years later, our Association continues to address similar issues and allegations of ongoing abuse regarding the detention of juveniles in Cook County.

For the past several years we have followed, with continuing dismay, the Federal Court litigation and numerous newspaper accounts of abuses taking place at Cook County’s Temporary Juvenile Detention Center. The litigation and subsequent study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation revealed a wide spectrum of abuses and problems including violence against children housed at the center, inadequate medical treatment, inadequate housing, sanitation, clothing and food, lack of educational and athletic/exercise programming, kids being held at the center who were not charged with a crime, and a stifling living environment that creates a sense of hopelessness.

Last year, the Board appointed a Special Blue Ribbon Committee on Cook County’s Juvenile Temporary Detention Center consisting of expert in juvenile law, judges from the Juvenile Court, academics, government officials, and leaders from many community organizations, including Youth Outreach Services, Hull House, Civitas Child Law Center, Juvenile Justice Initiative, and Maryville academy. Retired Juvenile Court Judge, Patricia Brown Holmes chaired the Blue Ribbon Committee.

During the past year, the Committee met with numerous lawyers, juvenile detention specialists, the past and present leaders of Cook County’s Juvenile Detention Center, the Chicago Public Schools (who are responsible for education at the Center), Cook County Commissioner Earlean Collins, the leaders of other model juvenile detention centers, the ACLU’s litigation team, and a host of other experts on the treatment and detention of juveniles.

The Blue Ribbon Committee’s Final Report will be considered by the Board of Managers at our November meeting, and we will once again make some courageous and historic decisions.

Upon approval, we will release the Report and work to implement its many important recommendations to improve Cook County’s Juvenile Detention Center. Many thanks to Judge Holmes and to the Blue Ribbon Committee for their outstanding service to our community.