The Coalition to End Money Bond has trained more than 75 community members to hold Cook County judges and prosecutors accountable to bond reforms as the situation in Cook County Jail worsens.

The Coalition to End Money Bond is training community members from across Cook County to observe Cook County’s central bond court, where the majority of bond decisions are made. The volunteers will be monitoring bond hearings to ensure judges minimize the number of new people sent to Cook County Jail, where more than 500 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and seven people have died so far. Conditions inside the jail are currently at the center of a class action lawsuit in which a federal judge ordered changes to protect the health and safety of the people incarcerated there.

“Next to the decision of innocence and guilt, there is no decision in a criminal case more important than what kind of bond someone receives. Now, whether or not a person is released pending trial has become a question of life and death. The decisions being made by Cook County judges in bond court could determine whether or not someone survives this pandemic. It is more important than ever that judges be required to follow the law and respect the rights of accused people,” said Sharlyn Grace, Executive Director of Chicago Community Bond Fund.

Since mid-March, more than 100 organizations have helped create pressure that lowered the number of people in Cook County Jail by more than 1,400. Nevertheless, over 4,000 people remain incarcerated in Cook County Jail, which is one of the nation’s largest single-site jails and now one of the single biggest Coronavirus hotspots in the United States. In April, more than 600 new people were admitted to Cook County Jail. More than half were due to unpaid money bonds. 

“Every day, judges are sending new people into the health hazard that is Cook County Jail—many simply because they can’t afford to pay a bond. The size of someone’s bank account should never determine whether or not they’re put in a cage, but, in this moment, the stakes are even higher. Right now, an unaffordable money bond can become a pretrial death sentence,” said April Friendly, a community organizer with The People’s Lobby, who is helping coordinate the effort.

In 2017, Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans issued General Order 18.8A, which instructs judges to set bonds only in amounts that people can afford to pay. Since the order went into effect, the number of people incarcerated in the jail has dropped by nearly 2,000 people on any given day, standing at 5,500 on March 20th when the stay at home order went into effect in Illinois. The Coalition to End Money Bond has documented the county’s implementation of the order over the last two years in several reports. While the use of money bonds has decreased significantly, judges continue to set unaffordable money bonds that result in unconstitutional pretrial incarceration. Today, approximately 1,400 people are incarcerated in Cook County Jail solely because they cannot afford to pay a money bond. 

“Bond reform has saved lives. Had General Order 18.8A not been in effect, there would have been more than 7,500 people incarcerated in Cook County Jail when this pandemic started. It is more important now than ever that we end the immoral and unconstitutional practice of incarcerating people because they are poor,” said Rishona Taylor, a congregational organizer with Community Renewal Society who is helping coordinate the effort.

The Coalition to End Money Bond hosted two training sessions in the past week. Volunteers will begin their courtwatching shifts and start reporting their findings today.