[ACLU-CU ALERT] Fwd: Call for Courtwatchers to Monitor the Implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act

[Champaign County ACLU Announcements]

Dear ACLU members and supporters
This summer, the Illinois Supreme court ruled to uphold the  2021 provision
of the Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act here that eliminated cash bail for
those who posed no distinct line of flight and didn't have highly violent
crimes. A network of pretrial justice organizations across the state
engaged in court watching at bail courts BEFORE the act went into effect,
and now the comparison is the impact of the implementation of the act. You
should know that scholarly studies show that those incarcerated because
they can't pay bail are more likely to lose jobs and family, more likely to
be convicted, more likely to be recidivists. So will the reform matter? We
need to know and the only other broad study of Illinois bail reform doesn't
include Champaign County.
If you are interested in participating in this follow up, the training is
August 6 (information below)
My experience is that forwarded sign-up links don't always work, so here is
the operative sign up link
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuJoxJPWq-pWdgaabvjJhICg65LJk_p-aRFn_Zvy40MNjM0w/viewform

Sincerely
Carol S Leff
President Champaign County ACLU



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Champaign County Bail Out Coalition <
champaign.county.bail.out at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Aug 2, 2023 at 4:49 PM
Subject: Call for Courtwatchers to Monitor the Implementation of the
Pretrial Fairness Act
To:


Hello everyone,

I hope you're enjoying the fruits of our labor in light of the Supreme
Court's decision to uphold the elimination of money bail in Illinois. We're
finally going to see thousands of folks across our state benefit from the
end of wealth-based jailing.

*We are now preparing to launch courtwatching efforts in Champaign County
to monitor the implementation of the new law, which is set to take effect
on September 18, 2023, and are* *asking Champaign-Urbana community members
to help*. Implementation will not be seamless and we may find bad actors
committed to stifling the relief for so many. Courtwatching will be an
important tool in holding judges and other court actors accountable.

Our friends at the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice (INPJ) have
streamlined the courtwatching process for us. They've standardized forms on
which we'll record factual information from the observed hearings. This
info includes: name of judge, name of accused, perceived race, perceived
gender, charge(s), motion for detention filed? (Y/N), motion for detention
granted? (Y/N). They will also be asking us to complete a brief survey at
the end of each day of courtwatching to summarize our subjective
experience/observations of the day’s proceedings.

These courtwatching efforts will also be in coordination with our friends
in Winnebago, Cook, Sangamon, Peoria, Dupage, Kane, Will, and McLean
Counties, who will be collecting the same data.

More immediately important, INPJ will host a training session to prepare us
for the courtwatching experience. *If you're interested in participating in
the courwatching process and attending training, please sign up for the
training *here
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuJoxJPWq-pWdgaabvjJhICg65LJk_p-aRFn_Zvy40MNjM0w/viewform>.
The training will take place on August 6 at 5:00 PM on Zoom  and will last
approximately one hour.

Thank you for all that you've done for pretrial fairness in Illinois!

Phillip

Champaign County Bailout Coalition
202 S Broadway Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
(765) 231-5682
https://champaigncountybailoutcoalition.wordpress.com
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