Young people at a southern Illinois juvenile detention facility are confined to cells the size of parking spaces up to 23 hours per day alone, with fluorescent lights that never turn off.
That’s according to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Illinois Friday regarding Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center in Benton.
Youngsters at the facility must ask staff permission to flush the toilet and can go days or weeks without access to schoolwork.
The lawsuit also says kids at the facility are deprived of their 14th Amendment due process rights, and seeks a court order compelling the facility to immediately improve conditions.
