Incarceration Reform

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The United States has far more people in prison and in jail than public safety requires. This damages the lives of those who are incarcerated, their families, and their communities, disproportionately the lives and families and communities of people of color. It also contributes to a cycle of crime and punishment and diverts resources from more constructive uses.

This purpose of this website is to provide information that individuals and organizations need in order to get involved in confronting the moral crisis of mass incarceration in Illinois and elsewhere, by accumulating and organizing the growing body of information about the full range of complex issues that we need to address in order to rethink and change the laws and practices that have resulted in too many men and women—most of them people of color—being imprisoned, and about the many ongoing efforts that one can support for making our response to criminal behavior both fairer and more  effective.

That growing body of information is accessible through the links accumulated both in the summary document on opportunities and resources, which you will find under in the section entitled “Getting Involved” and in the documents that break down that same information by subject matter in the other sections of the website listed above.

Those resources also include video recordings available on this homepage of programs featuring leading experts that were hosted by St. Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church in Chicago in 2018 to promote greater understanding of the criminal legal system and to begin to provide tools for individuals and organizations to get involved in promoting radical change.

We greet the new year with celebration of allies in the struggle for justice and with many opportunities and resources for pursuing the fight. 

The section of the website on Upcoming Programs and Events highlights a link to information on registering to participate in the Restorative Justice Convening being held remotely on the morning of Friday January 23.  The section on Books, Reports and Articles highlights links to a study about the difficulty that people returning from prison in Illinois experience in finding housing after their release, and to expressions of concern by the ACLU and others about the implementation of the initiative of the Cook County State’s Attorney of turning over charging decisions for serious crimes to the police without participation by the State’s Attorney. The section of the website on Getting Involved in Criminal Justice Reform also contains these and other links to resources and opportunities of interest.

Holding ICE Accountable: The current lawless intervention by ICE in our communities has created a new front that requires our attention in our pursuit of justice through our criminal legal system in Illinois.  Therefore, the website highlights a link, included again here, to, https://reporticenow.com/, the website of the Ice Accountability Project, launched in Chicago on January 8, 2025, where people in Illinois can go to  submit testimony, video, and other digital evidence of incidents of abuse by ICE, on a confidential basis, so that the information can be validated, gathered and secured for later use in future legal proceedings to hold ICE accountable for it actions. Please circulate this link widely. You can find more about this initiative by going here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96McpUqZRzY  to watch Lori Lightfoot’s press conference launching this initiative.

A great way to give thanks for the work that so many are doing in Illinois to reform the criminal legal system, and to support those who are impacted by it, is to support their work.

Attached as a reminder is a list with links to organizations doing the work.  Please go to the links to such organizations in that list, or in the section of the Website on Organizations to Support and Follow, to learn more about them and to add a couple of them to your list for year-end giving or for support in the new year.

Please also note once again:

• a new volunteering opportunity to participate in the relaunch of the Cook County Jail Votes Project, noted in the section of the website on Volunteering Opportunities in Illinois
• some Upcoming Programs and Events, 
• developments related to the Illinois Department of Corrections, noted in the section of the website on Developments in Illinois and Federal Justice and
• several important reports, mentioned in Books, Reports and Articles, that have appeared in the past couple of months on issues related to understanding and reforming the criminal legal system.

All of these developments are also noted in the section of the website on Getting Involved in Criminal Justice Reform.

We hope that you will find this information, and the other resources in the Website to be useful in pursuing your commitments to justice reform in Illinois, whatever they are.

Best wishes for the holiday season.

The Illinois Geneal Assembly has just concluded its very consequential Fall Veto Session.  Justice reform legislation that it passed in this session includes:

• Clean Slate Act ­Legislation, which will automate the expungement and sealing of criminal records in Illinois, impacting some 2 million Illinois residents by eliminating the (often prohibitively complicated) extra procedures now required obtain the sealing or expungement of records already allowed under the law.
• Juvenile detention – long-sought legislation that raises the minimum age for juvenile detention from 10 to 13 and establishes a Juvenile Detention Utilization Task Force to shift fiscal incentives away from detention to community alternatives, and
• the Court Access, Safety, and Participation Act to protect court access for all individuals, including victims of domestic violence, witnesses, and immigrants, who may be hesitant to attend court proceedings due to recent arrests, to be enforced by a right of civil action for damages.

Please also note:

• a new volunteering opportunity to participate in the relaunch of the Cook County Jail Votes Project, noted in the section of the website on Volunteering Opportunities in Illinois
• some Upcoming Programs and Events, 
• developments related to the Illinois Department of Corrections, noted in the section of the website on Developments in Illinois and Federal Justice and
• several important reports, mentioned in Books, Reports and Articles, that have appeared in the past couple of months on issues related to understanding and reforming the criminal legal system.

All of these developments are also noted in the section of the website on Getting Involved in Criminal Justice Reform.

I hope that you will find this information, and the other resources in the Website to be useful in pursuing your commitments to justice reform in Illinois, whatever they are.

Summer is here, but there is a lot to report on justice reform in Illinois.

The sections of the website on Getting Involved and on Upcoming Programs and Events provide links to details of a number of significant in-person and on-line events coming up over the next couple of months, including on-line sessions focused on improving the experience of those who have been discharged from prison in Illinois and fundraising events in the fall for Cabrini Green Legal Aid, the Illinois Prison Project, and The John Howard Association.

The section of the website on Books, Reports and Articles contains links to a number of important new reports and articles on topics including Principles for Parole Reform and retention of a new health care provider for the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The spring session of the Illinois General Assembly saw the passage of important legislation supporting justice reform, including:

• Improving Public Defense – HB3363: the Funded Advocacy and Independent Representation Act (the FAIR Act), under which Illinois will establish an Office of the State Public Defender and will create a statewide system to ensure consistent, well-funded, and independent public defense services in Illinois.
  See: https://mailchi.mp/endmoneybond/wedidit?e=26813fbadd

• Pretrial Success Act grant program – continued funding of the programs designed to insure success of the Pretrial Fairness Act reforms.
  See: https://www.chicagoappleseed.org/2025/06/10/victory-pretrial-success-grant-program-preserved-funding-kept-for-critical-pretrial-services/

• Youthful Parole – HB 2546, an important revision to the Youthful Parole Act that strengthens the existing Act by ensuring that eligible people can access a parole hearing on the correct timeline and not have to remain incarcerated longer while they wait for their hearing.  Fact sheet here: HB 2546.

• Fines & Fees –SB108, making the Cook County Traffic Fee Waiver Program permanent, a significant step toward reducing court debt for Illinois families

• Policing – in Schools  legislation requiring all public schools and districts in Illinois to stop issuing fines for disciplinary violations and to report annually to the state and make public how often they involve police in student matters, with data disaggregated by race, gender, and disability.
  See: https://davisvanguard.org/2025/06/illinois-bans-school-fines/

• Civil Asset Forfeiture – HB 1628, to improve data collection and transparency in Civil Asset Forfeiture – toward reforming the system in Illinois that allows the state to permanently seize someone’s property.
  See: https://www.chicagoappleseed.org/2025/05/27/hb1628-a-step-toward-enhancing-data-/collection-and-transparency-in-reporting-civil-asset-forfeiture/

• Contraband in Prisons – SB2201, mandating the collection and public reporting of prison contraband data, as in where it is found, and who in the facility (person in custody, staff, vendor, etc.) is in possession of or attempting to procure the contraband – part of the effort to improve the safety of everyone inside IDOC but not be unnecessarily punitive to people in custody.

• Crime Data – HB1710: Homicide Data Transparency Act, requiring law enforcement agencies across Illinois to routinely publish detailed data on nonfatal shootings, homicides, and investigations.

The Sections of the website on Getting Involved and Developments in Illinois and Federal Justice, also report several developments in Cook County, including he launch of  Cook County Criminal Justice Data Dashboard at https://cook-dashboard.loyolaccj.org/ .

Bills that will continue to be considered for passage in the 2025 fall session of the Illinois General Assembly include:

• Home For Good Legislation – SB2403 and HB3162, to provide for $103 million of investment that would expand housing access and housing support for people with arrest and conviction records.

• Detention of juveniles – to obtain House approval of SB1784, which would raise the minimum age of detention of juveniles from 10 to 13, and SB2156, which would create a  Juvenile Detention Utilization Task Force  to shift fiscal incentives away from detention to community alternatives. Go to this link for a: Fact sheet on SB 1784

• Automating Expungement and Sealing of Criminal Records in Illinois – to eliminate the (often prohibitively complicated) extra procedures that are now required for the individual to obtain the expungement and sealing to which he or she is entitled is entitled under the law.

• Ending Lifelong Financial Punishment by Abolishing All Fees for All Public Conviction Registries –SB2197 / HB3469, to end lifelong registration fees for those convicted of crime. See this SB2197 / HB3469 fact sheet with information about the importance of this legislation.

• Post Conviction – Review  needing approval in the House, to amend to create fairness and consistency by allowing children and young people sentenced before the monumental U.S. Supreme Court decision, Miller v. Alabama, the same opportunity for a constitutional hearing as people sentenced after Miller. Fact sheet here: SB 248

Please check out the updated attachments for links to new reports and articles and a second season of the Pulitzer Prize Winning podcast Suave: https://www.futuromediagroup.org/suave-returns/  

Be prepared to support these bills when the time comes.

Please check out the updated attachments for links to new reports and articles and a second season of the Pulitzer Prize Winning podcast Suave:  https://www.futuromediagroup.org/suave-returns/  

Meanwhile now is critical time to take a few minutes to use the very convenient links below to ask your Illinois legislators for their support in getting important justice reform across the finish line, as the both houses of the legislature reconvene to consider bills that have now passed the other chamber. 

Home For Good Legislation

Use the convenient new online form at this link:
https://secure.everyaction.com/24U9Xk0reUmY8UFpKzFLsg2?autoSubmitSuppressed=true 
to modify and send a predrafted letter to your Illinois State Senator and State Representative, asking them to support SB2403 and HB3162, which provide for $103 million of investment that would expand housing access and housing support for people with arrest and conviction records.

Improving Public Defense 

The FAIR Act, HB3363, passed the Illinois House on April 9! 

– It would reform the structure and funding of the Public Defender System in Illinois,  
– Contact your state Senator using this action tool to ask for his or her support of the FAIR Act when HB3363 comes before the Senate for consideration.
– Sign-up for a canvassing shift here to canvass in your community for FAIR Act, to provide citizens with the tools to write to their legislators in support this legislation to create a statewide public defense system  
–  You can access the fact sheet here and the campaign website to learn more about the bill, and here is coverage from the Chicago Reader of “Illinois’s Public Defense Crisis,”  as well as a link to the handouts from the recent Statewide Summit on the Future of Public Defense in Illinois

Restoring State Support for College Programs in Illinois Prisons

Click to sign a letter of support for HB2466, which would renew State support for programs of college education for those incarcerated in Illinois prisons, by removing the ban on the Monetary Award Program (MAP) for incarcerated students in Illinois.  

• You can learn more about the bill at: BackontheMAPIL.org.
• You can also go this link to access resources and fact sheets for information that you can share with your networks about how restoring educational equity through MAP restoration would actually save the State money, and how attending college in prison substantially reduces the likelihood that someone will commit another crime after being released. 

Automating Expungement and Sealing of Criminal Records in Illinois

Contact your state legislators now at this convenient link: https://secure.everyaction.com/4Lu0wbj26U-t56nL87x7ew2#!, if you haven’t already, asking them to support Illinois legislation, following the example of other states, to eliminate the (often prohibitively complicated) extra procedures that are now required for the individual to obtain the expungement and sealing to which he or she is already entitled is entitled under the law.

Ending Lifelong Financial Punishment by Abolishing All Fees for All Public Conviction Registries

Please go to this link, if you haven’t already, to connect directly with your state senator and state representative to support SB2197 / HB3469, which would end lifelong registration fees for those convicted of crime, and where you will also find this SB2197 / HB3469 fact sheet with more information about the importance of this legislation

Increase of lower age of detention for juveniles

• SB 1784 would raise the age of detention for juveniles from 10 to 13
• SB 2156 would create a Juvenile Detention Utilization Task Force  to shift fiscal incentives away from detention to community alternatives
• Write to your member of the Illinois House of Representative to urge her or him to support SB1784 and SB2156
• you can contact your representative using this link: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/maps/
• and go to this link for a: Fact sheet on SB 1784

The new year brings renewed focus on justice reform in Illinois.

• In the revised documents at the tab on Getting Involved and the tab on Upcoming Programs and Events, you will find links to details of upcoming events focused on justice reform that will occur in person and online.

• There are links to other new resources in the documents at the tabs on Books, Reports and Articles and on Online Resources. 

• As always, the document at the tab on Getting Involved contains links to a wealth of ways to get involved in efforts to reform the criminal legal system in Illinois and to mitigate the ongoing punishment and discrimination faced by those who have been released from prison.  Among the links for Illinois voters to use in supporting priority legislation to be considered in the new session of the General Assembly are:

• this link https://secure.everyaction.com/4Lu0wbj26U-t56nL87x7ew2# to use in contacting your legislators to ask them to support legislation automating the expungement and sealing of criminal records when an individual has a right to expungement and sealing under the law, and

• this link: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-your-legislators-to-increase-access-to-public-defense-by-passing-the-fair-act to use to connect with your legislators to ask for their support of the FAIR Act for reforming the structure and funding of the Public Defender System in Illinois. 

Under the tab Organizations to Support and Follow, you will find an updated list with links that you can use to learn more about organizations that are making a difference, and to get involved in supporting their work.

We approach the end of the year with many reasons to appreciate the dedication of individuals and organizations whose efforts continue to shine a light on the failures of our criminal legal system, to develop and implement changes that will bring justice and overcome racial bias, and to serve those harmed by the cycle of trauma and violence caused by the punitive approach that we take to criminal justice.  They are worthy of our support.

Under the tab Organizations to Support and Follow, you will find an updated list with links that you can use to learn more organizations that are making a difference and to contribute to supporting their work. Please find some that inspire you and support them now and in the future.

The revised document at the tab Getting Involved also contains links to additional resources, including new reports, upcoming events, and this new link:https://secure.everyaction.com/4Lu0wbj26U-t56nL87x7ew2#! to use in contacting your Illinois Legislators to ask them to support legislation automating the expungement and sealing of criminal records when an individual has a right to expungement and sealing under the law.

Note also the online panel presentation on Thursday December 12 on Coalition Building to Advance Decarceral Legislation being presented by the Smart Decarceration Project – go here: bit.ly/496G7iS for more information and to register without charge.

Finally by clicking here you can make a tax deductible contribution to CDLU.org, the nonprofit organization that created this website.

Best wishes for a safe and satisfying holiday season,

John

As always, the updated website contains links to new resources for learning about the impact of the criminal legal system and working to change it, links to archives of such resources from the past several years, and links to information about organizations that are working to change the criminal legal system and about the periodic reports and newsletters that they publish

New reports, articles and books.  The resources at the tabs Getting Involved and Books, Reports and Articles include a new report at this link: https://mailchi.mp/chicagoappleseed.org/punishing-fear on the devastating impacts of the war on gun possession in Chicago, reports on the first year without cash bail in Illinois, reports and articles on the reforming the prosecutorial function and on demonstrable harms of incarceration, and other online resources for understanding how our criminal legal system systematically results in mass incarceration.

Advocacy.  We will soon be in another legislative session in Illinois, and a major legislative priority will be passage of the FAIR ACT to reform the structure and funding of the antiquated and deeply unjust public defender system in Illinois.  Access the fact sheet here, and use this action tool to send letters to your legislators to tell them to increase access to public defense by passing the FAIR ACT.   In the section of the website on Getting Involved, you will also find a link to use to oppose plans of the Illinois Department of Corrections to stop delivery of physical mail to those incarcerated in its facilities.

Retail Theft. Note also the June article on “The Truth about Retail Theft” from the Vera Institute of Justice, whose conclusions are contrary to the narrative that won the day in this year’s Democratic primary for Cook County State’s Attorney, and which you can read here: https://www.vera.org/news/the-truth-about-retail-theft

Please take a look and consider both how you can get involved and whom else you know who might be interested in the website.

Here are some upcoming events that will be of interest to those who want to support justice reform in Illinois:

• A You Matter Summit on the impacts of mass incarceration, on Wednesday April 24, 2024 from9:00 to 3:00 at the Kennedy King College U Building, 740 West 60Th Street, being presented by the Easterling Center for Restorative Practices in partnership with llinois Humanities and The Field Foundation and hosted by Justice 2020.
  • Learn more and register without charge at: https://bit.ly/3Vu1pCo.
    
    
• Out of the Shadows, a forum on court transparency on Thursday April 25, 2024, 11:30 to 1:30 at 5100 West Harrison, presented by Common Cause Illinois, the Better Government Association, and BUILD’s Peace and Justice Center.
  • Learn more and register without charge at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/out-of-the-shadows-why-court-transparency-matters-tickets-859039057947

• Galvanizing Action for Justice, an annual event of Impact for Equity on Wednesday May 8, 2024- 5:30 cocktails, 6:30 program and dinner at Venue West, 25 N. Paulina.
  • Learn more and buy tickets at https://aesbid.com/ELP/IMPACT24/

• Annual Toast to Justice, an annual event of the John Howard Association, on Tuesday June 13,2024 from 5:30 to 8:00 at Tree House Chicago, 149 West Kinzie.
  • Get more information and buy tickets at https://www.thejha.org/events/ttj2024

Other Resources

Other resources highlighted in the revised attachment at Tab headed Getting Involved  include information on prison conditions in Illinois, on the impact of ending cash bail in Illinois, and on Governor Pritzker’s plans to demolish and replace some Illinois prisons.

Work continues on many fronts. Thank you for all that you are doing.