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A group of male teenagers dressed in gray sweaters and black pants are walking in two lines, with their hands behind their backs. A man in a dark blue collared shirt and tan cargo pants walks behind them.
Closing Argument April 15
How the Juvenile System Forces Minors Into Unsafe Institutions
Even in states with a drive for reform, many children and teens face long confinement and dirty, dangerous conditions.
By Jamiles Lartey
A Cook County Sheriff’s investigator placed an electronic monitoring device on a detainee before he was released in 2018 in Chicago.
Coronavirus November 22, 2020
Where Coronavirus Is Surging—And Electronic Surveillance, Too
In Chicago and elsewhere, the number of people wearing an ankle monitor has jumped in recent months due to the pandemic.
By Eli Hager
Cook County jail detainees cast their votes after a polling place in the facility was opened for early voting on October 17 in Chicago.
News October 26, 2020
Unlocking The Vote In Jails
The majority of the 745,000 people held in local jails can vote, but few do. Advocates say it’s voter suppression on a national scale.
By Nicole Lewis and Aviva Shen
Feature October 24, 2019
The Kim Foxx Effect: How Prosecutions Have Changed in Cook County
The state’s attorney promised to transform the office. Data shows she’s dismissed thousands of felonies that would have been pursued in the past.
By Matt Daniels
People wait at the Cook County Jail for loved ones to be released.
Southside October 31, 2018
The Waiting Room
For many released into the harsh environment outside Chicago’s Cook County Jail, it can be impossible to find their way home.
By Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve
Kim Foxx, left, was a guest speaker at the Chatham Business Association on Chicago’s South Side in late 2017.
Southside October 29, 2018
The Hustle of Kim Foxx
After the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald, can a new state’s attorney bring real reform to Chicago?
By Steve Bogira
Feature April 19, 2016
The ‘Chicago Model’ of Policing Hasn’t Saved Chicago
Why is everyone else copying it?
By Simone Weichselbaum
Looking Back May 21, 2015
When a Psychologist Was in Charge of Jail
Cook County Jail will soon be run by a mental health professional. And it’s not the first time.
By Melanie Newport
Commentary January 27, 2015
A New York Lesson for Chicago (and Elsewhere)
Paying the wrongfully imprisoned, quickly, is both moral and economical.
By Alexa Van Brunt
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