Free Them All
More than 250,000 people are in jail every year while awaiting their trial in Illinois. Every day, thousands of people are incarcerated even though they have not been convicted of a crime, and even though a judge has determined it is safe for them to return to their homes pending a trial.
Why are they in jail? They do not have access to money to buy their freedom. Those who cannot afford to pay can be jailed for days, months, and even years.
Unaffordable money bonds harm individuals and entire communities who do not have access to wealth. Pretrial incarceration and onerous conditions of release result in lost jobs, housing, and even custody of children. Money bonds disproportionately impact Black and Brown people, who are targeted by policing practices and more likely to be convicted and serve time in prison.
As members of the Coalition to End Money Bond, Community Renewal Society works to end our two-tiered justice system: one that grants advantages to the wealthy while punishing and sickening other people for their poverty.
Cook County Jail, dubbed one of the single biggest coronavirus hotspots in the United States, is a hazard for both the people who are imprisoned and the staff of the jails. Because social distancing is impossible in jail, there is now a substantial risk of contracting this life-threatening virus. Allowing people to remain incarcerated during this pandemic is not only unjust, but also potentially deadly. In this unprecedented time of public health emergency, we must take action.
There is so much at stake right now. The only acceptable response to the threat of COVID-19 is decarceration. Almost all of the people in the Cook County Jail are awaiting trial and; thus, presumed innocent under the law.
CRS calls for the Immediate Release of Youth at Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center
In the wake of recent protests defending Black lives, hundreds of people were charged with felonies in Chicago and sent to bond court. Despite their unaffordable money bonds being paid by the Chicago Community Bond Fund, many of these people remain trapped in Cook County Jail because electronic monitoring equipment is not available for their pretrial conditions of release. The overuse of electronic monitoring is keeping people caged in Cook County Jail while COVID-19 spreads like wildfire.
Tell Cook County Jail: Electronic monitoring is NOT worth risking lives.
Free Them All,
Lindsey Hammond
Associate Director of State Policy
And the CRS Policy and Organizing Team