Decarcerate Illinois

We call on Illinois lawmakers to take a realistic view of what community safety means and how to achieve it. Our current systems have been failing individuals, families, and communities for generations. The needs of survivors are not being met and the current system disrespects and harms accused and convicted people, making them and their families unsafe. We can no longer condone the harms of our current laws and allow them to continue to separate families and perpetuate harm for generations. Let's act!

From commitment to action! Please support bills that offer a truly progressive step forward in ending our reliance on carceral policies and toward proven policies for community safety for all.

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Recent News

First steps taken in state’s criminal justice overhaul
Mar 09, 2016
Gov. Bruce Rauner joined with lawmakers on March 2 to introduce three bills meant to begin reforms to the state’s criminal-justice system.
Urgent! OPPOSE HB4775, because all students deserve an education. Witness slip
Apr 26, 2014
√ CHECK. WE DID THIS!
OPPOSE HB4775
Apr 12, 2014
√ CHECK. WE DID THIS! OPPOSE HB4775: allows schools to expel students convicted of a violent felony
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Stories

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New Special Report on Prosecuting Children in Adult Courts
Blog
Apr 29, 2015
The Juvenile Justice Initiative (JJI) just released a Special Report on the Automatic Adult Prosecution of Children in Cook County. Get it here! Here is JJI's new Special Report detai...
Free Public Forum on the State of Jail Reform in America
Blog
Oct 29, 2014
Who:  Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the John Howard Association, Illinois Academy of Criminology, and Loyola University's Center for the Advancement of Research, Training and Education (CARTE) What:  American Jails: The Final...
Design and Violence: Thomson Correctional Center
Blog
Aug 29, 2014
Check out this post by Raphael Sperry, president of Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility, on the violence inherent in the design of Thomson Correctional Center See it here: ...
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