One year ago today, the Illinois legislature voted in support of the Pretrial Fairness Act, a key component of the criminal justice package bill known as the SAFE-T Act. This historic legislation that will end the state’s use of money bond and dramatically reduce the number of people incarcerated pretrial in Illinois was passed in response to nationwide Black Lives Matter protests following the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Millions of people across the country, in large cities and small towns, took to the streets to demand change in our criminal legal system. The Illinois legislature acted swiftly by taking bold action to support legislative policies taking us from protest to progress. 

The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice will spend the next month celebrating this victory and mobilizing our communities to defend these crucial changes to our legal system. We are kicking off this anniversary by sending certificates commemorating this vote to all of the representatives and senators who voted in support of the Pretrial Fairness Act. As you read this, our partners at the Faith Coalition for the Common Good are preparing to mail these to the legislature. During the next month, our partners throughout the state will be hosting educational events to spread the word about these historic changes, aiming to engage more than 500 people from all over Illinois. 

This historic change is only possible because of the massive amount of support we received from people like you who have stood with us over the last five years. On this anniversary, we are calling on you to take action with us to defend the Pretrial Fairness Act. 

We are less than one year away from the full implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act. People on house arrest with electronic monitoring are already benefiting from your efforts to support this bill. Our collective action in support of pretrial fairness and dismantling systemic racism will benefit people across Illinois for decades to come, but only if we defend them. 

Reactionary racist backlash is threatening to not only undo the changes we’ve set in motion, but also to push for regressive policies fueling mass incarceration. We are calling on people across Illinois to come together and let our legislators know that real community safety comes from ensuring that our neighbors have the resources they need to thrive, not through punishment. 

Take a moment and use this tool to send your legislators a letter calling on them to say NO to legislation promoting mass incarceration and to defend the Pretrial Fairness Act.