Man in Chicago divorce case jailed like criminal while dangerous suspects run free: lawsuit

Article here. Excerpt:

'One year ago, the governor of Illinois signed into law the SAFE-T Act, eliminating cash bail for all dangerous criminals in the state. And while the law has yet to go into effect amid suits from 65 counties, it will never apply to a former options trader. He claims in a lawsuit that he has spent the last six months in “solitary confinement” in a Cook County jail — over a divorce case.

Steve Fanady, 58, has been held on a $10 million bond for indirect civil contempt in a dispute over stock ownership, stemming from a 14-year-old divorce case, after a county judge ordered him jailed in June. He is the only long-term civil detainee in Cook County Jail.
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According to the Fanadys and a federal lawsuit filed by Fanady himself, Fanady, who is handicapped due to two hip replacements, has been sleeping on a dining table alone in an isolated dormitory cell, infested with rats and roaches, hadn’t showered in at least 17 weeks, and has been denied basic medical and mental health care.
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The Sheriff’s Office told the Post that it “strongly denies that Mr. Fanady was mistreated, tortured, denied appropriate medical or mental health care, or subjected to inhumane conditions while in custody. It claimed that it does not utilize solitary confinement and that Fanady was housed separate from other individuals pursuant to state law and at the request of his attorney. The Sheriff’s Office also said that Fanady had “regular contact with staff each day” and “had access to a telephone and television.

Recently, private lawyers for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart argued in court against allowing Fanady, who has never been convicted of any crime, out of jail on electronic monitoring.'

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