Jail: Yes to Underwear-Sharing, No to More Ankle Monitors

By Margaret Lyons in News on Feb 20, 2008 8:23PM

Tony Rezko's lawyers want him to be under house arrest instead of in jail for the duration of his trial because they say jail conditions are "deplorable." Uh, no joke! It's jail! But yeah, jail conditions are deplorable.

"He has to share underwear with people on the floor … it's disgusting," said [Rezko's lawyer], who noted prisoners in the general population get their own underwear. Clothing for prisoners in solitary confinement is laundered but shared.

Rezko's in solitary not for extra-harsh punishment; jail officials say he's there for his own safety.

But Rezko's not the only one having a rough go of things in the clink. The Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center is short on electronic ankle bracelets, so sometimes kids charged with low-level crimes wait up to a week in the facility for a monitoring bracelet to become available. According to the Trib, 26 teenage inmates currently at the center could be sent home with the devices, but there aren't any. On Monday, 16 teenage inmates and 10 staffers were injured in brawl at the center, and staffers say they're underpaid, overworked and considering a walk-out. [S-T, Daily Herald, "Trib, ABC 7]

Photo by e.q.