This week Ropes & Gray, along with co-counsel ACLU of Illinois, prevailed on their motions for preliminary injunction and class certification in a class action lawsuit against Knox County and the youth detention center Mary Davis Home (“MDH"). The complaint, filed in May 2024, alleged that MDH violated the Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights of youth in detention by placing them in solitary confinement and failing to provide adequate mental health services.
On September 30, 2025, Judge Colleen Lawless, U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, granted Plaintiffs' motions for class certification and preliminary injunction. As a result of this ruling, MDH is immediately enjoined and restrained for the next 90 days from placing youth in solitary confinement outside of limited and specific circumstances and from placing youth at risk of suicide and self-harm in solitary confinement. Within 30 days, MDH is also required to present to the court a plan for the provision of appropriate mental health care services for youth at risk of suicide or self-harm. This is a pivotal victory for the children detained at MDH.
The Ropes & Gray team is led by litigation & enforcement partner Tim Farrell, and includes associates Katie Conroy, Robert Koehler, Alex Sahara, paralegals Freda Frimpong and Ricardo Venegas, and legal technology analyst Michelle Kahn.
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