<div dir="ltr">Dear ACLU members and supporters<div>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.  </div><div>If you are interested in participating in this follow up, the training is August 6 (information below)</div><div>My experience is that forwarded sign-up links don't always work, so here is the operative sign up link</div><div><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuJoxJPWq-pWdgaabvjJhICg65LJk_p-aRFn_Zvy40MNjM0w/viewform">https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuJoxJPWq-pWdgaabvjJhICg65LJk_p-aRFn_Zvy40MNjM0w/viewform</a></div><div><br></div><div>Sincerely</div><div>Carol S Leff</div><div>President Champaign County ACLU </div><div><br></div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Champaign County Bail Out Coalition</strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:champaign.county.bail.out@gmail.com">champaign.county.bail.out@gmail.com</a>></span><br>Date: Wed, Aug 2, 2023 at 4:49 PM<br>Subject: Call for Courtwatchers to Monitor the Implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act<br>To: <br></div><br><br><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">Hello everyone,</span><br style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><br style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">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.</span><br style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><br style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><b>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</b> <b>asking Champaign-Urbana community members to help</b>. 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.</span><br style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><br style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">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.</span><div><br></div><div><span>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.</span><br style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><br style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">More immediately important, INPJ will host a training session to prepare us for the courtwatching experience. </span><b style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">If you're interested in participating in the courwatching process and attending training, please sign up for the training </b><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuJoxJPWq-pWdgaabvjJhICg65LJk_p-aRFn_Zvy40MNjM0w/viewform" style="font-variant-ligatures:normal" target="_blank">here</a>. The training will take place on August 6 at 5:00 PM on Zoom  and will last approximately one hour.</span></div><div><div><br></div><div>Thank you for all that you've done for pretrial fairness in Illinois!</div><div><br></div><div>Phillip</div><div style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><br></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Champaign County Bailout Coalition<div><span style="font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif">202 S Broadway Ave, Urbana, IL 61801</span><br></div><div><span style="font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif">(765) 231-5682</span></div><div><a href="https://champaigncountybailoutcoalition.wordpress.com" target="_blank">https://champaigncountybailoutcoalition.wordpress.com</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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