Champaign-Urbana Community Demands More Pretrial Freedom at Second Public Hearing of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices
The second of three listening sessions organized by the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices took place in Urbana this past Monday, May 6, 2019. The Coalition to End Money Bond joined the Champaign County Bailout Coalition, the ACLU of Champaign County, Believers Bail Out, First Followers, and several other community members to deliver testimony highlighting the negative impacts of unaffordable money bond and pretrial incarceration. Together, we called on the Commission to make recommendations that would drastically reduce the number of people in jail throughout the state, including recommending adoption of a proposed Supreme Court Rule that would end the use of unaffordable money bond and thus significantly reduce the number of people who are detained while awaiting trial and presumed innocent. Six members of the Commission were present to hear testimony along with several members of the Commission’s working groups, staff from the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, and Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita B Garman.
Prior to the listening session, local organizers held a Rally to End Money Bond and Pretrial Incarceration outside of Champaign County’s satellite jail, where approximately 160 people are incarcerated on any given day. The vast majority of people locked up in Champaign County are being detained pretrial, often because they cannot afford to pay their money bond. Community members spoke about the injustice of pretrial incarceration, which destabilizes communities who are also targeted by racist policing practices and systemic economic divestment. Others highlighted how money bond acts as a regressive tax against poor communities, as revenue from bond payments are used to fund the county court systems. Champaign County Bailout Coalition member Molly Galloway spoke about her struggle to support her partner during his time incarcerated pretrial, as she was unable to come up with the money to pay his bond. Molly went into over $4,000 of debt paying for the cost of phone calls, commissary, and other necessities. Her situation is unfortunately not unusual, as past studies have found that Black women are most burdened by the myriad costs associated with criminalization.
James Kilgore of First Followers Reentry and the Challenging E-Carceration Campaign spoke about how money bond and pretrial incarceration are “the front door to mass incarceration.” He also described how the pressure to take pleas increases the collateral consequences people face upon release, including barriers to securing employment and housing.
At the public hearing, a broad spectrum of community members including people who had personally experienced pretrial incarceration, healthcare providers, legal professionals, community service providers, a retired federal probation officer, Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons and Champaign County Board member Mike Ingram delivered testimony about the various detrimental impacts of pretrial incarceration on individuals, families and entire communities. The first speaker, Julie Prandi of the Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of Illinois and the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois, had traveled from Bloomington-Normal in order to testify. She opened up the hearing by focusing on the moral imperative of ending money bond and pretrial incarceration and pointing a laser-sharp focus on why racial justice demands we do so.
Several speakers noted that The Bail Reform Act of 2017 had helped reduce the number of people jailed pretrial in Champaign County and urged Commission members to make recommendations to build on that momentum and bring counties throughout the state into further compliance with the Illinois and U.S. Constitutions.
Many of the people who spoke also urged the Commission to replace punitive pretrial conditions with supportive services such as phone call and text message reminders, rides to court, and flexible court dates. When questioned about the issue of people living with addiction who are at risk of re-arrest after being released pretrial, Champaign County assistant public defender Tony Allegretti responded by noting that it is bad policy to criminalize addiction and that services should be made available outside of the jail for those who wish to seek them in the community.
Dr. Maryam Kashani of Believers Bail Out was one of several people who spoke about the harms of electronic monitoring (EM), which is often suggested as an alternative to pretrial incarceration. Dr. Kashani and James Kilgore both emphasized that EM is, in fact, just a different form of incarceration that shifts the site of jail into individuals’ homes and communities. Dr. Kashani stated that many of the people bonded out by Believers Bail Out in Cook County are placed on EM and then unable to find employment or support their families in other crucial ways due to the extremely limited movement they are allowed.
You can read press coverage from Monday’s rally and listening session here:
- Illinois Public Media News: Illinois Supreme Court Commission On Pretrial Practices Hosts Public Hearing In Urbana
- WCIA Local News: Group Wants State to End Monetary Bails
