Illinois Judge Ignores Law, Orders 12-Year-Olds To Remain Locked Up

A judge in Cook County, Illinois has ruled that two 12-year-old boys must remain locked up despite a local ordinance which bans law enforcement from locking up children who are under 13 years old. The ordinance was passed less than a month ago by a unanimous vote by county commissioners. 

Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Michael Toomin bucked the new ordinance when he ordered that two 12-year-old boys remained in custody at a Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. The two young boys have gun charges on their records and were accused of committing an armed robbery. They also damaged the electronic monitoring devices they were forced to wear, allowing them to run away. 

"These minors represent a clear and present threat to society to the extent that only secure placement is appropriate," Toomin wrote in his ruling. "The county's ordinance offers little aid or guidance in the processing and placement of this cohort of our minors."

Judge Toomin said that state's Juvenile Court Act, which allows the detention of children who are at least ten years old, supersedes the county ordinance.

“If the concept of public protection heralded in our Juvenile Court Act means anything, it must ensure that where detention is foreclosed, as the ordinance indeed mandates, there must be a viable alternative. That alternative is presently missing from the equation.”

 Photo: Getty Images


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