skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Pivotal Point: Solitary Confinement Banned for Juveniles in Illinois

play audio
Play

Tuesday, May 5, 2015   

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The use of juvenile solitary confinement in Illinois will soon become a relic of the past. A federal judge has approved a new policy negotiated by the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union that bans the use of solitary confinement for juveniles in the state.

Adam Schwartz, senior lawyer with the ACLU of Illinois, says solitary is one of the most abusive practices used in prisons in the United States.

"This practice is especially bad for juveniles who have growing minds and need to be engaged in social activity," says Schwartz. "All of the science shows that as bad as it is for adults it's even worse for juveniles."

Schwartz says ending solitary confinement marks a pivotal point for juvenile justice in Illinois and he commends the Department for taking steps he says will help kids in their custody.

Schwartz says the new confinement policy limits the circumstances when youths may be temporarily separated from the general population for purposes of safety.

"If someone is in the middle of a fight or if someone is suicidal, during the time of their separation they will continue to have regular human contact, they will continue to have their ordinary education and mental health services," he says.

The policy stems from a federal lawsuit. Schwartz says prior agreements between the ACLU and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice resulted in progress on other issues such as special education, individualized mental health services, and protection of LGBT youths.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021