The Latest Breaking News from Cook County Jail

Attorneys for two families say they were not notified that elementary teacher Andrew Castro had been removed from teaching in May 2021 over abuse allegations and that he continued abusing three boys outside school.

Plus: Highland Park massacre suspect to represent himself, the first hot tub boat riders and more.

CHICAGO — Over the past five weeks, a federal jury has been immersed in a small section of Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, where prosecutors say a close-knit street gang named the Goonies acted as “urban hunters,” terrorizing residents and ruling its territory through an unrelenting wave of gun violence.

The jail’s concern about drugs embedded in paper is understandable, but the ban on paper products is a ban on education, expression and exploration by those being held in jail, two university students write.

In an Oct. 25 scuffle, a sergeant claimed a detainee in a wheelchair tried to break his wrist using handcuffs. Body cam videos don’t back that up.

Reginald Roberson is accused of placing handcuffs over his knuckles and striking an inmate multiple times in the jail on Dec. 29, 2021.

CHICAGO — Chicago’s most active voting precinct has an unlikely cornerstone. A big chunk of its voters don’t cast ballots at an elementary school gym or a library — they vote from jail.

Foul play was not suspected. It was the second inmate death at the jail within two days.

Marvell Reasonover, 28, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said. His death was ruled a homicide.