Sheriff 'Rewarding Serial Masturbators With Pizza': Lawsuit

CHICAGO, IL — A group of six women attorneys with the Cook County public defender's office filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday arguing that county officials have conspired to let inmates continue to sexually harass them. The suit asks for a class action on behalf of more than 200 women lawyers and law clerks who have allegedly been subjected to indecent exposure, masturbation and threats from detainees in courtroom holding areas and high-security areas Cook County Jail.

The women's lawsuit alleges that Cook County officials have been aware that female public defenders and law clerks have suffered sexual assaults and batteries "by detainees in a targeted campaign of harassment for more than two years." Even so, they have "refused to implement any measures to prevent" the pattern of inmates masturbating and exposing themselves to lawyers and law clerks – often as they meet with another detainee, according to the suit.

The suit accuses Sheriff Tom Dart, Public Defender Amy Campanelli and the county "knowingly encouraged, allowed, and incentivized" those in custody to "carry out a sustained campaign of sexual assaults, indecent exposure and masturbation incidents on female [assistant public defenders], including by their inaction and rewarding detainees with 'pizzas' for good behavior following masturbation incidents."

Detainees who masturbated in front of attorneys and then went 30 days without another incident were allegedly rewarded with a pizza, while those who never exposed themselves to female lawyers were not eligible to get pizza through the program.

"That allegation is absurd and a lie. It does not occur, it did not occur," said Cara Smith, Dart's chief policy adviser. "We don't incentivize people to follow the law or follow the disciplinary rules of this facility."

So far in 2017, Smith said 222 detainees have been charged with public indecency. In most of those cases, it has been sheriff's deputies, correctional officers and civilian jail employees who have pressed charges.

"The Public Defender’s paramount concern is preserving the safety and well-being of her staff, and she will continue working in good faith with other stakeholders to find a viable solution," Campanelli's office said in a statement.

The county also tried making detainees wear special outfits intended to restrict them from reaching their crotch. The suit said the practice was discontinued after a group of inmates set a pile of the jumpsuits on fire using a microwave oven earlier this year. The sheriff's office said the policy is still in place.

"This is a difficult problem for lots of reasons," Smith said, describing the issue of detainee masturbation as a priority for the sheriff's office. She said she hopes the lawsuit will lead to more meaningful discussions about ways to solve it, "We have to be thinking outside the box here."

According to the suit, female attorneys are reluctant to file charges against offending inmates because it would suggest they aren't "tough" enough, and one woman who did file charges was retaliated against. She was widely criticized and the incident created a chilling effect, the lawsuit said.

"It is not my responsibility to keep you safe in the lockup and/or jail," Campanelli allegedly told attorneys in her office at an Oct. 18 meeting. The lawsuit claims only women attorneys and law clerks are subject to the abuse by detainees.

"The Public Defender has been working in collaboration for the past two years with the Sheriff and the Chief Judge to develop solutions to stop this behavior from occurring," her office said.

But strengthening penalties and meting out harsher punishments – like making it easier to charge detainees who expose themselves to attorneys with felony sex offenses – is not the solution, Campanelli argues. (Currently, those found guilty of public indecency are not forced to register as sex offenders until their fourth conviction.)

"[T]he Public Defender cannot support legislation or measures that significantly increase penalties for detainees who engage in this behavior or that subject detainees to inhumane practices," according to the statement from her office.

Campanelli sent a letter to Dart in March, describing a "crisis" of daily assaults that makes women in her office afraid for their safety in the workplace.

One attorney named in the suit has, on some weeks, experienced an indecent exposure or masturbation incident every day. Another was threatened by an inmate who said he would "beat the s--t out of her" and "motherf---ing kill her" after she pressed charges against him for masturbating at her, the lawsuit alleged.

Others described being grabbed by the legs or buttocks and other physical touching. And at least once, according to the suit, a detainee emitted bodily fluids on a female attorney.

In an Oct. 31 letter to public defenders, a supervising attorney in Campanelli's office sent a letter to staff saying the situation had become untenable at holding areas in the Leighton Criminal Courts Building at 26th and California. The letter banned employees of the public defender's office from meeting with inmates in lockups "until further notice."

"Assistant public defenders have been spat on, grabbed, and even physically attacked by inmates. In addition, our female attorneys have been subjected to repeated acts of public indecency," even more so since the sheriff's office removed extra deputies to provide security in holding areas behind courtrooms, Marc Stahl wrote.

The sheriff's office has said the county's budget crisis prevents it from spending the roughly $40,000 per week in overtime costs to keep the deputies in lockups, according Smith.

The lawsuit said that the number of masturbation incidents was reduced when detainees were shackled in the holding areas, but Campanelli objected and the practice was halted.

Currently, repeat offenders are transported to court separately. One could argue that functions as a perk and encourages the wrong kind of behavior, said Smith, the sheriff's policy adviser.

One solution to the what Smith describes as the "crazy waste of resources" of 85 percent of court appearances being extremely brief and not involving a single word from the defendants would be video conferencing. Smith said the idea has come up over the years for both budgetary and safety reasons but has been rejected by the public defenders office.

The rise in masturbation incidents among people in Cook County detention facilities is tied to the rise of a jailhouse gang that calls itself "Savage Life," according to the suit. Members of the gang allegedly award points to detainees for individual assaults on women lawyers, "depending on the severity of the incident and the female attorney who is targeted."

The gang, which is reportedly made up of members of various rival street gangs facing serious charges and lengthy sentences, has also been blamed for attacking guards, throwing urine or feces and a hostage-taking incident at Cook County Jail last year.

UPDATE: $14 Million Payout Ends Jail Masturbation Class Action Suit

Read the full complaint below: