Our Accomplishments

• Support of and coordination with the Historic Legal Challenge to the Use of Money Bail in Cook County.
• Drafting of the Principles of Bail Reform in Illinois.
• Support of HB 3421, The Equal Justice for All Act during the 2017 & 2019 legislative sessions.
• Securing 70 national & local signatories in support of a proposed Illinois Supreme Court Rule in November 2017.
• Training more than 100 Community Courtwatchers in July 2017, and issuing our report, Monitoring Cook County’s Central Bond Court: A Community Courtwatching Initiative in February 2018.
• Advocacy efforts by the Coalition help drop the number of people incarcerated in Cook County Jail to 5,762 people, a historic low.
• Issuing “Pursuing Pretrial Freedom: The Urgent Need for Bond Reform in Illinois,” an overview of the state of pretrial justice in Illinois.

The Community Courtwatching Initiative

• Monitoring Cook County’s Central Bond Court: A Community Courtwatching Initiative (August-Oct 2017): An in-depth look at the initial implementation of major bond reform in Cook County through a community courtwatching initiative by the Coalition to End Money Bond.
• Explore the Bond Court data we collected here.
• Read the two page summary of the Community Courtwatching Initiative’s findings created by the Chicago Community Bond Fund.
• Check out the Infographic Summary created by The Next Movement
• Download the Courtwatching Observation Form
• Download the Post-Court Observation Reflection Form
• Investigate the Central Bond Court outcomes for every day in 2017 (Note: this data is in raw form.)

Cook County Resources

• Download the Principles of Bail Reform in Cook County.
• Learn about General Order 18.8A  a local Cook County court rule that if fully implemented could dramatically reduce the use of money bond in Cook County.
• Read Chicago Appleseed’s take on the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Agreed I-Bond policy.
• Learn about the lawsuit filed against Cook County and download the filings, courtesy of MacArthur Justice Center.
• Read former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s analysis of Cook County’s “wealth-based” bail system.
• Five FAQs about bail reform in Illinois.
• Read Monitoring Cook County’s Central Bond Court: A Community Courtwatching Initiative (August-Oct 2017).
• Read Shifting Sands: An Investigation Into The First Year Of Bond Reform In Cook County

Illinois Resources

• Read the “Proposed Illinois Supreme Court Rule”
• Read The People’s Lobby summary of the Equal Justice for All Act.
• Analysis of the Bail Reform Act of 2017  by Chicago Appleseed.