Make Us Safer.
Restore Parole.
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Contact Your Legislators Now
Please consider reaching out to your elected officials to share your thoughts on important issues affecting our community. Your voice matters, and contacting your legislators is a powerful way to advocate for the changes you want to see. Take action today and make a difference by supporting HB3373 and SB2129.
Forty-five years without parole is too long.
In 1978, Illinois legislators ended parole, eliminating a crucial tool proven to incentivize rehabilitation and improve public safety. The vast majority of people incarcerated in Illinois over the past 45 years have no opportunity for parole review.
Restoring parole is common sense. The Earned Reentry Bill allows anyone serving 20+ years to become eligible for consideration of parole. This process involves having their rehabilitative status reviewed by the Prisoner Review Board for potential early release under a period of community supervision. People on parole have regular check-ins with a parole officer as well as stipulated rules to follow until the end of their sentence. Illinois needs to rejoin the majority of the US and provide a path for sentence review and re-entry.
No matter your politics, parole is a WIN for Illinois
Parole Improves Public Safety
Strong families and communities are the foundation of safety. Parole and re-entry services can help families and communities repair, which helps all of us. In fact, over two-thirds of crime-survivors supported alternatives to incarceration, such as mental-health treatment and rehabilitation, which stress healing of individuals and communities.
Parole Incentivizes Rehabilitation and Improves Re-Entry
Parole allows people who have been incarcerated for decades and demonstrated rehabilitation to be evaluated for reentry based on who they are now. The process incentivizes rehabilitation and provides opportunities to contribute to the community.
Parole Saves Taxpayer $$$ and Boosts the Economy
Incarceration is expensive. It costs Illinois taxpayers over $60K/yr per incarcerated person. By comparison, mandatory supervised release costs only $2300/yr per person. Experts estimate that bringing back parole could generate a cost savings of $115M or more after 10 years.