Last month, Illinois implemented the Pretrial Fairness Act and became the first state in the country to completely end the use of money bond. In response to this historic change, the state’s Office of Statewide Pretrial Services announced the launch of an Electronic Monitoring program that will cover 70 counties, many of which have never used electronic monitoring for people awaiting trial. The announcement of this program in conjunction with the implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act is of particular concern. Requiring anyone to wear an ankle shackle and be monitored in lieu of having to pay bond is an injustice that is in direct conflict with the spirit of the law and its intended impact. You can read the Network’s full statement on this development here.

Today, we are excited to share a statement from Michelle Alexander, attorney and author of “The New Jim Crow,” about the dangers of expanding electronic monitoring in Illinois. You can watch her statement above or read the transcript below.

New Jim Crow Author Michelle Alexander Speaks Out About Expansion of Electronic Monitoring in Illinois

“Hi, I’m Michelle Alexander, and I’m sharing this statement due to my profound concern regarding the drastic expansion of electronic monitoring of people awaiting trial in the state of Illinois. 

These are the facts: The Office of Statewide Pretrial Services recently announced a new electronic monitoring and surveillance program that will cover 70 counties in Illinois. It’s a program that may unnecessarily subject thousands of people who have been convicted of no crime to oppressive surveillance and control.

So why did this happen? Why now? Well, the program was rolled out in response to the passage of the Pretrial Fairness Act, which eliminated money bond in Illinois. It used to be the case that impoverished people were routinely locked in cages for no other reason than they were simply too poor to make bail. Well, the Pretrial Fairness Act ensures that people awaiting trial who would have been required to purchase their freedom can now return to their families and their jobs without emptying their bank accounts, losing their jobs or children, or being confined to jail. But now, despite this important victory, some in Illinois are trying yet again to strip away the freedom of people who are awaiting trial. And there’s no good reason for this. 

Research shows that electronic monitoring does nothing to improve community safety or to ensure that people return to court. Instead, what electronic monitoring does is make it difficult and sometimes impossible for people to support themselves and care for their families. Parents who wish to pick up their children from school, or people who need to go to a job interview or to work, or to the grocery store, or to a doctor’s appointment, or who need to care for friends or family members find themselves constantly at risk of setting off alarms or alerts that can send the police out to get them. Often electronic monitors send off alerts erroneously completely by mistake. But even when the monitors are working correctly, they operate to confine people in their homes, or their buildings, or their neighborhoods, or other arbitrarily defined areas for months or even years as they await trial. Punishing and confining people who are awaiting trial is in direct conflict with the spirit of the Pretrial Fairness Act. People should not be relegated to a frightening, stressful, marginal existence in which meeting basic needs can be difficult or impossible. 

The reality is that electronic monitoring is oppressive. It’s punishment, and it’s unnecessary. So please raise your voice and take action to protect pretrial freedom and stop the expansion of electronic monitoring. The work put in by so many social justice organizations, advocates, and faith communities made the seemingly impossible possible when the Pretrial Fairness Act was passed. Now we must commit ourselves to assure fair implementation. We must make sure that electronic monitoring isn’t adopted as yet another form of punishing people awaiting trial.”