Did you know there is no parole in IL? Support a Second Look for IDOC Seniors, House Bill 2045!

 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.  

---

Historic End of Cash Bail in Illinois!
Implementation September 18, 2023!

Photo courtesy of the IL Network for Pretrial Justice

​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

---

Photo from Coalition to End Money Bond

---

Prisoner Voting Rights

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

---

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. 

---

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 curious about prison 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.

8-12-20_abolitionist_theologies_virtual_roundtable_transcript.pdf
File Size:	150 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

Upcoming and Ongoing Events...

Let This Radicalize You 
by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba
Book Study & Praxis

Join in anytime by registering! Next session Nov. 11th, we will be joined by Monica Cosby, artist and abolitionist, for the chapter that features her scholarship and wisdom.  ​

For anyone involved in caring, justice work, and organizing toward a more peaceful world in the context of these challenging times.

October-May monthly sessions focus on two chapters of the book. Sessions will include invitations to monthly calls to action, wisdom sharing, and community building. This book feeds hope for the journey and tells stories of work already being done that builds the world of which we dream. Learn more about the book here.

Zooming monthly on Saturdays 11am- 12pm starting in October through May. A praxis-oriented book study grounded in the  practice of hope and joy centering the book by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba. Register & get more details here. 

End Death by Incarceration in IL!

Patrice Lumumba Daniels, Advisory Committee member of UUPMI

According to UUPMI Advisory Committee member, Patrice Lumumba Daniels, "Death By Incarceration (DBI) is "a prison sentence formally handed down by a judge of so called Life Without Parole.

• A prison sentence-relative to one's age/health-that exceeds what is doable & will not diminish one's capacity to be productive upon reentering society.
• A prison sentence that exceeds 20 subsequent calendar years.
• A prison sentence that has no allowance for earned early release."

​Additionally, bringing attention to death by incarceration reminds those in the free world to continue to counter these torturous policies and long-term sentences. Even though Illinois abolished the death penalty, the state is still executing Illinois prisoners through Death by Incarceration.  Part of this program is inviting our outside pen pals to visit their inside pen pals, share the words of their inside pen pals with legislators, speaking truth to power!

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.

Click here for more information about events

Our Mission

We equip UU's in Illinois to ​transform institutions;  partnering with and supporting people harmed by the prison industrial complex.  Read More

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  by a large network of Unitarian Universalists,  as well as from grants from the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility and Crossroads Fund - and grateful for all their support.

​This organization is in part funded by the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility and the Crossroads Fund.