Last week was so busy I didn’t get to read the three daily newspapers that land on my driveway every morning.

When I picked up the Wednesday Sun-Times, I saw Mark Brown’s column entitled,

Apparently Brown sat in on a weekly meeting that new Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has with the heads of various parts of the jail.

Apparently it wasn’t a pretty picture, but not as bad as it could have been.

I am sure one of the eternal problems of a Cook County Sheriff is lack of adequate funds to do what the sheriff things should be done.

Certainly the devastating Federal report, about which I wrote below, convincingly show major improvements are needed. Those changes will require lots of money.

The best chance for Sheriff Tom Dart to pry that money out of the Cook County Board is to allow the Feds to put the jail under court supervision.

Indeed, to maximize his image as a reformer, Dart could urge the Federal Court to take over the jail.

Part 1 – Pervasive Problems at Cook County Jail – Sheriff Tom Dart’s Goals

Part 2 – Pervasive Problems at Cook County Jail – 2007 Complaints of Physical Abuse to Inmates

Part 3 – Pervasive Problems at Cook County Jail – Causes of and Cures for Physical Abuse

Part 4 – Pervasive Problems at Cook County Jail – Medical Care

Part 5 – Pervasive Problems at Cook County Jail – Access to Medical and Dental Care

See Part 2.