UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST PRISON MINISTRY OF ILLINOIS
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Restoration
​Re-Integration Transformation

​Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of IL

Support a Second Look for IDOC Seniors, House Bill 2045!

Take Action here!
 Through reports from our CLF Worthy Now prisoner pen pals in Illinois, UUPMI leaders and volunteers know that prison conditions continue to be horrific.  This bill can save lives of seniors in IL prisons. The bill would provide a parole process for approximately 1,000 people in Illinois prisons who
are 55 years or older and have been caged at least 25 years. To view the wording of the bill go here. 


Pretrial Fairness Defended!
Over Twenty-Five UUs joined 400+ this past November in Springfield!

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Photo courtesy of the Coalition to End Money Bond
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​Illinois made history when Governor Pritzker signed the Pretrial Fairness Act into law on February 21, 2021. This was only possible because of you! The first phase of the Pretrial Fairness Act went into effect on January 1, 2022 and has expanded the rights of people on house arrest with electronic monitoring. To learn more about these changes, please tune into a recording of our Pushing Back Against Home Confinement event here. You can also read this blog post the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice wrote about the changes. Make sure you’re following the Coalition to End Money Bond on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay in the loop about the campaign efforts!

Why Electronic monitoring is not a progressive move:
https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/news/false-alarms/
Article about an East St Louis jail guard who maced teenagers while sleeping:
https://twitter.com/endmoneybond/status/1539609810919997440?s=20&t=u6hfwX-j7qbWyGHOjBwqdg
Report of a person who died in Cook County jail in June, apparently beaten to death, details of case pending, especially if they might have even been in jail if pretrial fairness was implemented:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/6/15/23170485/man-found-beaten-to-death-inside-cook-county-jail-cell-autopsy

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Photo from Coalition to End Money Bond

Prisoner Voting Rights

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Follow Chicago Votes for real-time updates and advocacy updates.

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B3098/HB4490
​
FREE Act

Support Families’ Right to Estate Equity (FREE) Act
SB3098/HB4490
The FREE Act removes language prohibiting people who have served their time and returned
back to society from being able to serve as an executor or administrator of an estate.
Specifically it removes language providing that a person who has been convicted of a felony is not qualified to act as an executor or an administrator. 

Advocating for Elder Parole

The Earned Reentry Bill SB2333 gives people with long-term sentences the opportunity for regular review by the Prisoner Review Board, thus shifting the focus of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) from warehousing to rehabilitation. Though it did not get to a vote this veto session, we will provide updates about work to do over the upcoming session, so be sure to like our Facebook page or twitter for updates!

A State-by-State Look at Coronavirus in Prisons
​
by The Marshall Project 
::updated daily::
The Marshall Project is collecting data on COVID-19 infections in state and federal prisons. See how the virus has affected correctional facilities where you live.
Read more...

Learning together

If you are new to abolition, check out this wonderful resource from Abolition Journal. With six sessions, you can go at your own pace. 

Self-led Learning page lists historic offerings and more to help deepen your knowledge.

Upcoming and Ongoing Events...

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To get zoom link for the Pen Pal Power Hour, please register here.

Worth and Dignity in Prison

Register here to attend the event!
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CLEMENCY Action: Waiting for Freedom

 ​As so many await the Governor of Illinois to sign petitions on his desk this New Year, please call to urge the Governor to sign and grant clemency to the following people who are people in our partner organizations as well as pen pal members of the Church of the Larger Fellowship Ambassador of Illinois Program. Call the Governor's Office at 217-782-6830. Wait for Option 7 and leave a voice message asking for executive clemency for the following people:
David Huffman
Edgar Smith
Kenrod Jones
Lonnie Smith
Marilyn Lemak
Jason Trimby
Richard Dykes
Frederick Lipscomb
Bernina Mata
Roger Shaw
Erick Nava Palomino

Thank you for your care!

Prison Conditions in Illinois

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We are working collaboratively with the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Ambassador of Illinois program in gathering information and listening to our friends and CLF members inside Illinois prisons about their top priority issues so that we can leverage our power to address these harms collaboratively with other organizations.  The main concern of our inside pen pals is around substandard health care. If your organization or your congregation wants to be more involved, please fill out our contact form! We are working closely with our partners at the Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of IL as thought partners in this work!
Like our facebook page

Past events...

To access a recording of the Legislative Advocacy Training with Restore Justice Illinois Director Jobi Cates, please visit here.

Thank you to all who registered and participated in Abolitionist Theologies: Religious Resistance to Policing and Prisons on August 12, 2020. Catch up on the conversation with this transcript or watch the video below:
8-12-20_abolitionist_theologies_virtual_roundtable_transcript.pdf
File Size: 150 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Thank you to all who gave so generously to benefit UUANI and UUMPI at the UU Democracy Revival that was held Sunday, 10/25/2020. To catch it later, watch here.

Other Events you should know about

  The COVID-19 Pandemic has highlighted the many needs of those who are recently released or still inside.  Though there are immediate needs that must be addressed, our organization still holds onto to a long-term religious vision where the humanity of all is recognized and liberation/reconciliation is possible for all people.
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Get Involved! For action you can take, visit the Illinois Prison Project, who is keeping a running list of ways we can stay engaged in our vision of liberation. 
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Click here for more information about events

Our Mission

We equip UU's in Illinois to ​transform institutions and support people harmed by the prison industrial complex.  Read More
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Use Amazon Smile to easily donate to our good work at UUPMI!
We need your help! We can sustain this ministry only if we have the support of people who care about our shared humanity with people in prison. Your contribution will help fund our half-time minister’s salary, benefits, and travel costs, plus the costs of our education offerings to congregations.

The In Prison Ministry works to create a spiritual space where all people can come as they are and be affirmed in their inherent worth and dignity, no matter their identities or past harm they may have caused. 

The outside work of the UU Prison Ministry focuses on preparing our congregations to become radically welcoming places for formerly incarcerated and convicted people. We embrace the call of Unitarian Universalism to make our congregations accepting of all people.

​The Prison Ministry will also connect Unitarian Universalists to local and state-level policy  initiatives that seek to build a world community of peace, liberty and justice for all.
Donate Now
UU Prison Ministry of Illinois is a 501(c)3 organization, so your contributions are tax-deductible.

​We are funded in part by the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility - and grateful for their support.
​This project is in part funded by the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility.
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UUPMI

We equip UU's in Illinois to ​transform institutions and support people harmed by the prison industrial complex.
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  • Home
  • Education
    • Prison Industrial Complex
    • Radical Hospitality
    • Self-led Learning >
      • In Prison - Learning
      • Justice Reform - Learning
      • Re-Entry - Learning
      • History - Learning
    • In the Media
  • Work we do
    • Advocacy >
      • COVID-19 Advocacy
      • Past-Advocacy
      • Pretrial Advocacy
      • Solitary - Learning
    • Congregations >
      • PenPals
      • Solidarity Circles
    • Prison Ministries >
      • Curricula
    • Calendar
  • Get involved
  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • Why We Exist
    • Partners & Allies
  • Donate