Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request from Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart to hear his appeal of the lawsuit challenging unsafe conditions inside the Cook County Jail during the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision means that the case will be sent back to the trial court to proceed. In the meantime, the preliminary injunction mandating access to masks, sanitizer, cleaning supplies, and COVID-19 testing, which was previously largely affirmed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, stays in effect. This is a huge victory for people currently incarcerated in Cook County Jail. 

The Mays v. Dart lawsuit was filed in April 2020 by attorneys with Loevy & Loevy, the Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center, and Civil Rights Corps in partnership with Coalition to End Money Bond member organization Chicago Community Bond Fund. Representing people incarcerated in Cook County Jail, the lawsuit challenges the unsafe conditions inside the jail during the pandemic. Attorneys argued that the cramped and unsanitary conditions inside Cook County Jail put the lives of incarcerated people at an extreme risk of contracting and dying from the COVID-19 virus.

While the Sheriff’s Office claimed its COVID-19 protocols within the jail were enough to keep people safe and court supervision wasn’t needed, testimony from dozens of incarcerated people contradicted those statements. A federal court judge ultimately agreed that intervention was needed and issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Sheriff’s Office take specific measures to protect the lives of people incarcerated in the jail in April 2020. Although 10 people eventually died from COVID-19 while in the custody of the jail and hundreds contracted the virus, the injunction resulting from this lawsuit has unquestionably saved lives. For more on the COVID-19 situation inside Cook County Jail, you can read this excellent February 2021 article by Kiran Misra: “What Went Wrong at Cook County Jail?”

Lawyers for people inside the jail will continue to litigate this case in the district court, and the Coalition will keep you updated as the litigation progresses. If you’d like to learn more about the Coalition to End Money Bond’s advocacy efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit endmoneybond.org/covid19.