Every year, Illinois incarcerates over 250,000 people in its 92 county jails. All too often, people are stuck in jail not because a judge required it, but because the accused person can’t afford to pay their money bond, i.e., the payment required to buy their freedom. 

It is no surprise that 90% of people in Illinois jail haven’t been convicted of the crime they’ve been accused of. That’s called pretrial incarceration and it’s expanded over 433% since 1970 in the United States.

Deciding who should and shouldn’t be in jail based on money and filling up our jails with poor people hasn’t worked. But it has taken millions of dollars out of communities and cost billions of dollars to support so much incarceration.

Money bond has not made us safer. Instead, it has contributed to racial disparities in the justice system and fueled mass incarceration and wrongful convictions. 

Communities and elected officials across the state have been calling for changes to the Illinois pretrial legal system. Other states and other court systems have already done it safely; Illinois should be next. This year alone, millions of people across the country have hit the streets to protest inequality in the legal system. The time to act is now. 

Join the Coalition to End Money Bond and the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice at one of our digital town halls to learn about the movement to end money bond, the harms of pretrial incarceration, and the comprehensive solutions provided by the Pretrial Fairness Act. Each of these three digital town halls will be hosted by a member of the Illinois General Assembly and teach you about the current problem with the pretrial legal system and how you can help solve it. 

• October 20th at 7pm – Hosted by Senator Robert Peters (13th District) & Rep. Kelly Cassidy (14th District) 
• October 22nd at 6pm – Hosted by Rep. Barbara Hernandez (83rd District) 
• October 27th at 7pm – Hosted by Rep. Robyn Gabel (18th District)

Demonstrating community support will help motivate Illinois legislators and the Governor to pass and sign this bill. Your continued support for ending money bond and creating a fairer pretrial legal system is more essential than ever.

Please register here!