We need your help getting a more accurate picture of the effect COVID-19 is having in Illinois’s prisons. The New York Times reported this week that 70 percent of the people incarcerated at one Ohio prison have tested positive for COVID-19. That report follows mass testing inside the prison, something we haven’t seen at any prisons or jails in Illinois.

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Corrections need to ramp up testing and report a more robust, accurate picture of the effect the virus is having in our prisons.

The Administration should be reporting the number of people tested at each prison, the number of people at each prison who have tested positive, the number of people from each prison who’ve been hospitalized, and the number of people from each facility who’ve died.

Please follow the steps of this petition and ask your state legislators to contact Governor Pritzker. We’ll include an email template for you but please personalize it and use your own voice. Mention your own incarcerated loved one or friend. Describe your fear or concerns.