The updated sections of the website now include links to a wealth of new Books, Reports and Articles and other Online Resources from 2023, in addition to a call for urgent advocacy with the Chicago City Council and a partial catalogue of justice reform legislation enacted in Illinoi in 2023 with the help of citizens who filed witness slips in advance of House and Senate committee hearings. In addition to being included in the various sections of the website, references to new resources are shown in bold at the tab Getting Involved.
There is also an updated list of Organizations to Support and Follow as 2023 comes to an end.
Resources of particular interest for getting involved in justice reform include the tools highlighted at the tab on Advocacy in Illinois and the following resources:
- A Reality Check on Illinois Prisons, recording of the November 27, 2023 edition of The 21st Show, from Illinois Public Media, featuring Jennie Volen-Katz, David Olson, Harold Hirshman and Alan Mills
https://will.illinois.edu/21stshow/story/a-reality-check-on-illinois-prisons
- the Final Report of the bipartisan Illinois Resentencing Task Force, issued in January 2023
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H3P5obfMWHbO8_0szbS91K3U04evAajQ/view
Executive Summary: https://spac.icjia-api.cloud/uploads/RESENTENCING%20TASK%20FORCE%20FINAL%20REPORT_Exec%20Summary-20230124T16172377.pdf
- the Illinois Reentry Council Strategic Plan, issued in December 2022:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59653faf099c014ab2324724/t/6397cc998fd6494b9bc00376/1670892697983/Illinois+Reentry+Council+Strategic+Plan.pdf
- a new WTTW Firsthand series for 2023 on “Life After Prison”, which launched on February 13, 2023: https://video.wttw.com/video/firsthand-life-after-prison-trailer-33aofv
https://chicagodefender.com/firsthand-life-after-prison-launches-monday-february-13-2023/
- Not and Alternative – The Myths, Harms and Expansion of Pretrial Electronic Monitoring, an October 2023 report of the Prison Policy Initiative
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2023/10/30/electronic_monitoring
- several resource guides and hubs for returning citizens, including:
https://www.intelligent.com/education-and-career-guide-after-incarceration
https://www.justice.gov/archive/fbci/progmenu_reentry.html
As always, please take a look and consider both how you can get involved and whom else you know who might be interested in the website.