Take action now to protect a vital lifeline for people who are incarcerated and their loved ones!

Mail is a meaningful, tangible connection with the outside world for people who are incarcerated. Letters, cards, drawings, and photographs sent in the mail are cherished forms of communication for people who are incarcerated and their loved ones on the outside. Restricting this vital kind of family contact has real, measurable negative consequences for mental health, behavior, and reentry success.

The mail is also an essential way people who are incarcerated can access books, news, religious materials, and educational resources.

The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) is planning to replace original, physical mail with mail scanning.

Mail scanning is a needlessly complicated process that increases costs for loved ones and creates low-quality copies that are consistently delayed.

There is no evidence that replacing physical mail with scanned or digitized alternatives will improve institutional safety. In fact, other states that implemented mail scanning saw drug use and overdoses increase.

Tell Governor Pritzker, Lieutenant Governor Stratton, Deputy Governor Scudder, and IDOC officials NOT to implement mail scanning.