Children face solitary confinement in cells at Illinois juvenile detention facility, ACLU says

Young people are confined to cells the size of parking spaces up to 23 hours per day alone, with fluorescent lights that never turn off, at Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center in Benton, Illinois. That is according to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Illinois on Friday. Youngsters at the facility must ask staff permission to flush the toilet and can go days or weeks without access to schoolwork. The lawsuit says kids at the facility are deprived of their 14th Amendment due process rights. The lawsuit seeks a court order compelling the facility to improve conditions immediately. Neither the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center nor the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice immediately responded to a request for comment by The Associated Press.