Illinois Just Ended Cash Bail. Here's How Organizers Made It Happen.
Illinois is the first state in the country to completely end the use of money bond.
inthesetimes.com
“the policy of conditional pretrial detention — holding accused people in jail until their trial, unless they can afford to pay bail — is currently practiced in all 50 states, although New Jersey did drastically reduce the use of cash bail. It’s a practice that necessarily penalizes poor people and disproportionately affects Black and Brown people, already overrepresented in U.S. jails and prisons.
The Pretrial Fairness Act was included in a criminal justice reform bill put forward by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. It is the culmination of a longstanding organizing drive by the Coalition to End Money Bond, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, and other community organizations. According to a statement from the Coalition to End Money Bond, “Among other things, this bill will overhaul the state’s pretrial justice system and end the use of money bond in its entirety. It also makes many people ineligible for pretrial incarceration.”
