Today, we are excited to release the Illinois Network on Pretrial Justice’s Evaluation of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission’s Final Report and Recommendations. This report is the end result of a multi-year statewide campaign to influence the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices. 

Read the report: bit.ly/ILSCevaluation

Read the one-pager: bit.ly/ILSC1page

In December 2017, the Illinois Supreme Court established its Commission on Pretrial Practices to make factual findings and recommend reforms to the state’s pretrial justice system. The Commission was composed of judges and representatives from different parts of the criminal justice system such as law enforcement, court clerks, and public defenders. Just one directly impacted person was appointed, and no advocates or other community members were included on the commission itself. Later, several advocates were invited to join working groups.

For two years, we called for the Commission on Pretrial Practices to recommend that the Supreme Court adopt our proposed rule to end wealth-based pretrial incarceration in Illinois. We participated in teach-ins, rallies, public hearings, and meetings with officials across the state. This report documents the common ground we found between the report’s policy recommendations and our movement, as well as highlighting where differences remain.

The Commission’s final report validates many of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice’s policy positions. Most importantly, both the Network and Supreme Court Commission agreed that no one should be incarcerated simply because they cannot afford to pay a money bond. The Commission also agreed that we must limit the number of criminal charges that are eligible for pretrial incarceration and expand the ability of police departments to be able to issue citations instead of making arrests. 

Ultimately, the Commission’s final report helps bring us closer to ending wealth-based incarceration in Illinois. We look forward to discussing this report with legislators and continuing to organize toward an Illinois where no one is incarcerated because they can’t afford to pay a money bond and many fewer people are jailed overall. 
To learn more about our campaign, join us on August 20th for a virtual teach-in on the Pretrial Fairness Act, our bill to end money bond and dramatically reduce the number of people incarcerated pretrial in our state. Register here: bit.ly/PFAevent