Last month, the Illinois Office of State Guardian filed a lawsuit against two sheriff’s deputies who allegedly tasered unarmed adolescents at the Southern Thirty Adolescent Center near Mount Vernon. Southern Thirty Adolescent Center is an emergency shelter for children aged 11- 18. The sheriff deputies were called to the Center because of the alleged behavior of three adolescents who were not the target of the alleged taser attack.
The lawsuit filed by the Office of State Guardian claims that the sheriff deputies were not physically provoked by any of the children that they attacked. The State alleges that the sherriff deputies:
- Tasered one boy several times in different parts of his body, including on the neck;
- Pushed a boy down on a bed, threatened to sodomize him and then tasered him;
- Handcuffed a boy and tasered him; and
- Handcuffed a girl who requested that the deputies stop their attack, choked her, threatened her and put her in a closet.
There has been no evidence that any of these children did anything wrong. However, there is plenty of evidence which suggests that tasers can be dangerous to children.
All children in our society should be protected but perhaps, none more so than the children who are under the guardianship of the state. These civil rights violations are alarming. Therefore, this case will be an important one for Illinois civil rights attorneys and all of the people of Illinois to watch in the coming months.