After several months of organizing and relationship building, the Coalition to End Money Bond is excited to announce the official launch of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice! Current member organizations include ACLU of Champaign County, Believers Bail Out, Black Justice Project, The Center for Empowerment and Justice, Champaign County Bailout Coalition, Change Peoria, Chicago Democratic Socialists of America, the Coalition to Reduce Recidivism in Lake County, Faith Coalition for the Common Good, Peoria Coalition to End Money Bond, Rockford Urban Ministries, UC MetroEast, UU Advocacy Network of Illinois, UU Prison Ministry of Illinois,  as well as all members of the Coalition to End Money Bond (A Just Harvest, ACLU of Illinois, Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice, Chicago Community Bond Fund, Community Renewal Society, Illinois Justice Project, Justice and Witness Ministry of Chicago Metropolitan Association – Illinois Conference United Church of Christ, Nehemiah Trinity Rising, The Next Movement at Trinity UCC, The People’s Lobby, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, and Workers Center for Racial Justice).

Initial Convening: July 13th

The network will hold an initial convening, The People’s Convening for Pretrial Freedom, in Springfield IL on July 13, 2019. This event is free and open to the public. If you wish to attend please register via Eventbrite. 

What is the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice? 

The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice serves to connect organizations working to reduce pretrial incarceration in Illinois and, more broadly, to end mass incarceration and address the root causes of socio-economic and racial inequity in our legal system. By sharing information about local efforts, generating opportunities for collaboration, and developing shared strategies, we will generate more power and leverage our local work to achieve transformative pretrial policy changes for all Illinoisans. Our Network is grounded in the Principles of Bond Reform in Illinois, and we support a proposed Supreme Court rule that would end pretrial incarceration in our state.

Members of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice will take action by hosting educational events in their communities, organizing letter-writing campaigns, call-ins, holding vigils or protests, and meeting with local decision-makers or elected officials. If your organization is interested in joining the Network, please contact us at info@endmoneybond.org. 

Why We’re Organizing: 

Every year, more than 250,000 Illinois residents are jailed while awaiting trial. Rampant pretrial incarceration and onerous conditions of release cause harm to impacted individuals and entire communities, including lost jobs, lost housing, and even lost custody of children. In addition, people detained pretrial are more likely to be convicted and receive longer sentences compared to people released pretrial with similar backgrounds and charges. Money bonds disproportionately impact Black and Brown people, who are targeted by policing practices and more likely to be convicted and serve time in prison. Successful, transformative bond reform must restore the presumption of innocence for all accused people and eliminate the vast racial and socio-economic disparities that currently define our criminal justice system. Recent history, data, and research have shown that increased pretrial release has no negative impact on public safety or court appearance rates. In fact, people released pretrial are less likely to miss court or be re-arrested than people who were previously incarcerated while awaiting trial. 

The time for transformative bond reform in Illinois is now! Join us as we bring an end to wealth-based pretrial incarceration and fight for true community safety through investment in our families and communities.