Posted on January 10, 2018 by Mark S. Mathewson
When people think about the jobs of public defenders, they may think about the immense workloads that some PDs take on. They may think about the risks of defending a dangerous individual - and losing.
One workplace hazard that most of us probably don't realize is that some inmates in Cook County Jail have been exposing themselves to, and sometimes masturbating in front of, female public defenders and correctional officers. The problem has led to six female public defenders filing an equal protection lawsuit late last year in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Female correctional officers filed a similar lawsuit.