The Illinois Answers Project’s “Strapped Down” series investigated the overuse, misuse and abuse of restraint chairs in county jails across Illinois.
Jails
Posted inInvestigating Responses
How three states are addressing the use and abuse of restraint chairs
The “Strapped Down” series investigated the use of restraint chairs in county jails. For the final stories in the series, we’re examining how three other states have addressed the use and misuse of restraint chairs.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
A Mentally Ill Man Died After Being Restrained. His Family’s Advocacy Led to Statewide Changes in California.
The knock came around midnight.
The officers told Carty Holland that his son, Andrew, had died at the county jail.
“They didn’t tell me how he passed,” Holland said. “The ugliness of it came later on.”
Posted inInvestigating Responses
This Pennsylvania County Banned Restraint Chairs at its Jail. Public Data Was Key.
Jason Porter takes comfort in knowing restraint chairs have been banned from Allegheny County Jail.
He was strapped down in the controversial device for six hours without food or water in 2020. His testimony bolstered by public data helped bring about a ban on restraint chairs at Allegheny County Jail.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Cook County Jail restrained people in chairs 874 times — and never reported it to the state
State standards require jails to report the use of restraint chairs on incarcerated people. Cook County Jail never did.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Champaign County Jail Begins Tracking and Reporting Use of Restraint Chairs to the State for the First Time
Champaign County Jail updated the way it documents, tracks and reports use of restraint chairs after an Illinois Answers Project investigation raised questions about the facility’s record-keeping practices and failure to report incidents to a state oversight unit.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
People were Strapped to Chairs for Hours, Days at Madison County Jail. Many were Mentally Ill or in Withdrawal.
Of all Illinois jails, Madison County has the most incidents of restraint lasting longer than 10 hours–the upper limit set by the chair manufacturer. The jail said they’re not equipped to care for so many mentally ill detainees.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
A Mentally Ill Man was Restrained in a Chair for 68 hours at Franklin County Jail, Violating Policies, Report says
One man was restrained for 68 hours, another for 27 hours. Both were mentally ill. The jail’s own policies say restraint should never last more than 10 hours.
An Illinois disability rights watchdog group says the jail violated both its own policies and state standards.
