The Pretrial Fairness Act, a provision of the SAFE-T Act that would eliminate the use of cash bail in Illinois, was halted by an Illinois Supreme Court decision on December 31, 2022.

To clarify the status of the SAFE-T Act, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice drafted a letter explaining next steps in the legislation’s implementation. Read the letter here.

Here is a letter of support for the implementation of the SAFE-T Act on January 1, 2023 from the Cook County Public Defenders Office signed by Kim Foxx and Toni Preckwinckle.

We are pleased to share this summary of recently enacted amendments to Illinois’ Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act (SAFE-T Act) from the Safer Foundation.

During the last day of the recent veto sessions, Springfield legislators finally approved changes to the Pretrial Fairness Act that were intensely debated by lawmakers in order relieve the public’s concerns of this controversial bill. Learn about the amendment and ways to advance the Pretrial Fairness Act here.

More than 400 community advocates rallied at the State capitol in support of ending money bond in Illinois. Read a press release from the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice that highlights the importance of the Pretrial Fairness Act and what this legislation means for communities.

CRS staff and more than 400 people from all across Illinois spoke to legislators and attended a rally where organizers and clergy spoke with passion about the moral mandate for people of faith to advocate for the most vulnerable in our community and to protect the Pretrial Fairness Act.

The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice released a letter that was sent to the Illinois Supreme Court by more than 40 academics calling to protect the electronic monitoring provisions of the Pretrial Fairness Act and to halt the expansion of this harmful technology. Read the letter here.

The Pretrial Fairness Act is again under attack, and we need your help to defend it.

120 organizations from across Illinois call on the Illinois legislature to stop SB4228. Read the joint letter here.

Here is a letter that was sent to the City Committee on Budget and Government Operations and the Community Commission regarding the CPD budget and police accountability.

This year’s theme is Together, We Win! These questions can be used to guide conversation with your congregation after viewing the 2022 Annual Membership Assembly video. We would love to hear from you the thoughts and plans that came out of your discussion.

Over the past few years, Community Renewal Society member congregations worked, together with the Coalition to End Money Bond and the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, to eliminate the use of wealth-based pretrial incarceration in Illinois. The Pretrial Fairness Act (HB 3653) passed and was signed into law in February 22, 2021.

Racism and poverty systemically create inequitable disparities that cause generational harm. We seek to educate and eradicate those disparities. CRS has put together this list of resources.

Time and time again, communities across Illinois came together to boldly defend the Pretrial Fairness Act from attempts to repeal it or lessen its impact. In the last few weeks alone, thousands of people filed witness slips, wrote and called their legislators, text and phone banked, and rallied others to take action! The movement’s collective efforts stopped multiple proposals that would have weakened protections for people on electronic monitoring or caged more people awaiting trial.

Join the Coalition to End Money Bond for any or all of the virtual text banking sessions to fight back against attacks on the Pretrial Fairness Act.

Community Renewal Society's Executive Director, Rev. Dr. Waltrina N. Middleton joined with fellow faith leaders in a press conference to call for the passage of H.R. 40. The Act would establish a commission to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans.

We have worked for years with the Coalition to End Money Bond to end cash bond in Illinois. Read the report and check out the fact sheet summarizing the coaliton’s recommendations.

CRS signed on to a letter that reminds our state legislators of our moral and religious imperative to support the passing of the Pretrial Fairness Act on February 22, 2021 without allowing regressive policies to counteract them.

Why reparations now? Racism and poverty systemically create inequitable disparities that cause generational harm. We seek to educate and eradicate those disparities.