Impacted People, Community Groups, Policy Organizations and Elected Officials Call for Illinois Supreme Court Rule

In March 2019, the Coalition to End Money Bond called on the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices to hold public hearings before making recommendations for reforming statewide policy this December. With your support, we were able to win four public hearings and the opportunity to submit written comments. This commission has the opportunity to recommend changes that could end wealth-based pretrial incarceration and drastically reduce the number of people jailed in Illinois. It is crucial that Commission members heard from advocates, experts, and those most impacted by our criminal legal system: Black and Brown communities and people living in poverty.

Communities from across Illinois attended hearings in Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, Chicago, and Freeport. In total, more than fifty people came out to demand the Commission recommend adoption of a proposed Supreme Court Rule that would significantly reduce the number of people incarcerated pretrial in our state by prohibiting detention based solely on the inability to pay a money bond. Additionally, over 1,500 people signed an online petition in support of the same proposed rule.

Written comments were submitted from a diverse group of organizations and individuals, addressing the many ways in which money bond and pretrial incarceration harm our communities. In addition to a letter from the Coalition to End Money Bond, written comment was submitted by Access Living, the ACLU, the Challenging E-Carceration Campaign, Chicago Jobs Council, Chicago Recovery Alliance, Chicago Teachers Union, the Civic Federation, the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee, the Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard Law School, Human Rights Watch, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Love & Protect, Metropolitan Planning Council, NAMI Chicago, TASC, civil rights attorneys, and a diverse group of researchers and scholars concerned about the technical flaws in pretrial risk assessments. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Health & Hospitals System, State Representative Will Guzzardi, and State Representative Justin Slaughter also submitted written comments. The submissions explored the impact of money bond and pretrial incarceration on issues ranging from education and employment to mental health, disability, and drug treatment. Policy experts explored the use of secured money bail, risk assessment tools, due process requirements, and detention eligibility. A number of the statements focused on the urgent need to decrease racial disparities and ensure, above all, that fewer people are jailed in Illinois.

Read the statements submitted below!

The time to reform Illinois’ pretrial justice system is now. In order to create a more just and equitable system, we must eliminate pretrial incarceration resulting from unaffordable money bonds. Unpaid money bonds are currently the largest cause of pretrial detention in Illinois. Every day, lives are needlessly destroyed and entire communities are damaged across the state. Currently, thousands of people are denied their freedom while presumed innocent, and fighting their cases without any of the protections they are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution—simply because they don’t have the financial resources needed to pay their money bond. This is both unconstitutional and morally reprehensible.

By recommending the implementation of the proposed Illinois Supreme Court Rule, the Commission has the opportunity to bring about much needed reform of our state’s pretrial justice system. By taking this important step to dramatically reduce the number of people incarcerated in Illinois jails, we have the opportunity to begin to undo the harm caused by mass incarceration and start the process of dismantling the prison industrial complex.

We will raise our voices again in July at the People’s Convening on Pretrial Freedom. Organizers, activists and community members from across Illinois will come together to discuss how we can win pretrial freedom for our friends and neighbors. Invitations to the convening have been sent to all members of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices and we hope they chose to join us for this important conversation. If you’d like to register for this free event, visit: bit.ly/pretrial-freedom. Bus transportation from and back to Chicago will be available.

We are hopeful that the Commission will do the right thing by recommending this proposed Supreme Court Rule in December, along with other transformative, truly supportive measures to aid in the success of individuals in the pretrial period. If the Commission is not bold enough in their recommendations, we stand ready to fight alongside our friends and neighbors across the state to advocate for the freedom our communities deserve.

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