Author: yesgregyes

Valdez Jordan

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Parole Illinois is pushing for policy changes that help reverse cycles of violence and incarceration and give people like Valdez fair chances to be reviewed for release.

With your help, we can bring stories like Valdez to a wider audience and gain support for a system of Earned Discretionary Release that provides our loved ones opportunities to finally come home. 

This month we are raising money so we can raise awareness and gain support for Earned Discretionary Release in Illinois. You can support us by making a donation…

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 #SupportParoleIllinois

131 Mile Walk Supporting Clemency For Julius Jones

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A collective of supporters for Julius Jones will walk 131 miles from the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City.

Beginning 5AM

December 31st

The walk will end on January 3 in McAlester, where Jones has been on death row for over 20 years.

Jabee Williams, Francie Ekwerekwu, Irv Roland, Cody Bass and Jess Eddy have joined a chorus of 6 million voices demanding Justice For Julius.

Push To End No-Knock Warrants

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The former head of an organization for tactical officers has endorsed an effort by the prominent police reform and racial justice group Campaign Zero to end the type of no-knock warrant raid that killed Breonna Taylor.

Mark Lomax, the former executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, said it’s time to take a “serious look” at “ending the dangerous practice of no-knock warrants and raids,” outside of extenuating circumstances.

“The ends may not always justify the means when it comes to the service of search warrants and especially no-knock raids.”

#EndAllNoKnocks

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The Untouchables: An Investigation Into the Violence of the Chicago Police

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Why does the department protect its most dangerous cops while retaliating against officers who tell the truth?

In a 2020 audit of American cities, the municipal monitor Truth in Accounting gave Chicago an F for fiscal health. It called the town a sinkhole that’s $36 billion in the red and owes more per citizen — roughly $40,000 apiece — than any metropolis save New York.

It borrows huge sums to meet its obligations, routinely raises taxes on property owners, and claws back millions from teachers’ pensions to float its annual budget. What it doesn’t do is face down the ruinous costs of police misconduct against its people.

Chicagoans pay more to the victims of cop violence than the residents of any U.S. city per capita. In 2018, the last year for which there are records, the city spent about $100 million on claims, and tens of millions more in legal fees to the lawyers who brought the cases.

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A State-by-State Look At Coronavirus In Prisons

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By Nov. 17, at least 197,659 people in prison had tested positive for the illness, an 8 percent increase from the week before.

New infections the week of Nov. 17 reached their highest level since the start of the pandemic after rising sharply the week before. The new surges far outpaced the previous peak in early August.

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COVID Tears Through State Prison In Anamosa

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The coronavirus is tearing through Iowa’s prisons, infecting more than 3,400 incarcerated individuals and staff and killing 9: eight inmates and one employee. The Anamosa State Penitentiary is one of the hardest-hit institutions, where more than three-quarters of the incarcerated population have contracted COVID-19.

At the state prison in Anamosa, the thing that family members and advocates have been warning of for months has happened: the prison has become a sprawling, stone petri dish for the coronavirus.

As of Friday, more than 77% of the people incarcerated there had tested positive for COVID-19, according to a state tally. Many of them are considered recovered, but three have died. Additionally, 124 staff members there have also reported contracting the disease.

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Illinois Could Drastically Reduce Its Prison Population Without Seeing Crime Increase, New Report Says

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A new study says Illinois could reduce its prison by population by 25% over the next five years without contributing to an increase in crime.

Ending mass incarceration has been the stated goal of several Illinois lawmakers and advocates. Such efforts are frequently met with concerns that fewer people behind bars will mean more crime on the streets. This new report says those concerns are unfounded.

The paper, published Friday, points to states like New York, California and Maryland, which have significantly reduced their prison populations while also seeing a drop in crime. It also notes that Illinois itself has cut down on its prison population and still seen crime go down.

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IDOC’s Reentry Program Helps Prisoners Successfully Integrate Back Into Society

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In 2019, more than 23,000 men and women were released from the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Last year, IDOC created a new program that’s main focus is to provide the necessary services to people returning to society.

Administrator for the Reentry Program, Jennifer Parrack, said it’s all about bridging the gap between life inside the correctional facility and when people are released on parole.

“We really knew that we were not adequately preparing our men and women to leave our correctional facilities and be successful,” Parrack said. “For our men and women that have worked really hard in our correctional facilities to better themselves and get prepared to have a better life to support their family members upon release, we really need to be working hard to assist them.”

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Shuttered Englewood School Will Get New Life As Hub To Help Formerly Incarcerated People

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A shuttered Englewood school will get a second life providing second chances to people leaving the prison system.

Granville T. Woods Elementary, 6206 S. Racine Ave., is the future home of the Reentry Holistic Life Center, a facility that will house job training and others programs designed to help Englewood’s most vulnerable residents and boost the local economy.

Woods was one of 50 schools closed by Chicago Public Schools in 2013, rapidly falling into disrepair shortly thereafter.

Nicknamed the “Regenerator,” the venture is part of the Go Green on Racine initiative, a multi-million-dollar collaboration between local groups to bring environmentally sustainable development to the area around 63rd Street and Racine Avenue.

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Sheriff’s Office Suspends In-Person Visits at Cook County Jail

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The Cook County sheriff’s office announced Sunday it will be suspending in-person visits at the Cook County Jail in hopes of warding off another coronavirus outbreak as cases rise across the county.

The suspension is effective Monday, the sheriff’s office announced, citing the rising case numbers.

As Well As The Stay-At-Home Advisory.

“For months, detainees were able to safely meet with family and friends. Like detainees, the people who visit them come from the community, where current test positivity rates for Chicago and Cook County are at 15.6% and 15.2% respectively.”

Sheriff Tom Dart implored people to take coronavirus precautions seriously, saying that an outbreak in the community could eventually enter the jail.

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