I t took me 15 minutes to walk from my Uptown office to the el station at Argyle, where I boarded the southbound Red Line train at about 8 AM. I got off 45 minutes later at 35th Street and headed for the bus stop. I waited 10 minutes, then hopped on the westbound bus for a 20-minute ride before transferring to a northbound 94 at California, which took me, in a few minutes, to my destination—Cook County Jail.
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An online map of the jail gives a single address, 3015 S. California, but the compound actually stretches from 26th to 31st streets, bordered by California on the east and Sacramento on the west. I got off the bus at about 28th and California—the halfway point—and made my way to the first gated entry. It was next to the courthouse, where bail bonds are paid, and there were long lines and a lot of activity outside. I told the guard my business. He consulted a dot-matrix printout and sent me to Division Four, the women’s division, on the opposite side of the complex. I started walking, following the brick and barbed wire north to 26th then over to Sacramento.
I said I came by public transportation. What did people do in this situation?
“Oh no no no no, you can’t bring any of this in,” the skinny officer said as she rifled through it, shaking her head.
“People have been doing it all day.”
“I’m sorry, miss,” she said. “But her visiting hours are on Sunday.”
I waited in the lobby—a couple rows of plastic chairs and vending machines—for more than an hour before I was called to the visiting area.
