Lawsuit: 'Sadistic violence' at Cook County Jail

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Lawsuit: 'Sadistic violence' at Cook County Jail
By MICHAEL TARM, Associated Press | February 27, 2014 | Updated: February 27, 2014 6:49pm

CHICAGO (AP) — Guards at one of the nation's largest jails systematically engage in "sadistic violence and brutality" against inmates, according to a federal class-action lawsuit filed on Thursday.

But an official responsible for overseeing the Cook County Jail, Sheriff Tom Dart, told reporters the lawsuit was an exaggeration and, taken as a whole, was "a fictional account."

Lawyers filed the 59-page suit in U.S. District Court in Chicago on behalf of male inmates at the sprawling Chicago jail, which the filing says is overcrowded with 2,000 male inmates at any one time.

The lawsuit says officers sometimes threaten inmates with code words for beatings, asking if they want "an elevator ride," where cameras can't record attacks.

"The sadistic violence and brutality ... is not the work of a few rogue officers," the lawsuit alleges. "It is a systemic problem."


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Lawsuit-Sadistic-violence-at-Cook-County-Jail-5273876.php

[Hoppy]

1. he first thing is to require cameras to be installed in the elevators.

[pipoman]

2. "A systemic problem" through out the "corrections system"

Some jailers are just doing their time at the jail to earn their stripes and get onto the streets. Many who aspire to prison and jail guard work are sadistic pigs who love torturing and ruling over others. When you think about it, what kind of person wants to be in lockup every day, voluntarily?

[Laelth]

3. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[mopinko]

4. i gotta wonder

as it says- the feds are monitoring that jail already. it's not a nice place. but it has been scoped out pretty carefully.

[mopinko]

5. just a thought.

i made a post in an unrelated thread about tom dart, the sheriff.
he is a good progressive. this lawsuit seems improbable. the cook county prez is a good progressive, too. other good stuff going on around here. i KNOW that she has been to the jail many times and would not tolerate this sort of shit.
i have to think that there are a lot of people in this town that would like to give the both the sheriff and the board a black eye. not the sort of person that thinks this way all that often, but hey, it's chicago. lots of not nice people might not like an honest sheriff.

i can believe most anything of cops, so it could easily be true. but here, it could just as easily be complete smoke.