End Discriminatory Monetary Bail
Governor Bruce Rauner, State of Illinois Legislature, Illinois Supreme Court, and Cook County Circuit Court
Imagine Defendant A is accused of a low level crime and is required to post $6,000 bail. Now imagine Defendant B is also accused of the same low level crime and required to post the same $6,000 bail. It seems fair that both defendants would be charged the same amount of bail, right? Now imagine that Defendant A earns $100,000 a year and has a healthy savings account and Defendant B earns a minimum wage and has no savings.
Monetary bail discriminates against people who are poor. The well-off person and the poor person stand accused of the same crime, but only the well-off person can get out of jail and return to family and work obligations while awaiting trial.
In the overcrowded Cook County Jail there are more than 9,000 inmates -- as many as 90% of whom are awaiting trial. The average wait for trial is 57 days, and 67% of the inmate population is Black.
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To:
Governor Bruce Rauner, State of Illinois Legislature, Illinois Supreme Court, and Cook County Circuit Court
From:
[Your Name]
The State of Illinois and Cook County should end or severely reduce the use of bail bond, institute a publicly accessible evidence-based risk assessment program with oversight, and allow people accused of drug-related offenses to be released on their own recognizance before trial. We must end the practice of locking up people in systemic poverty.