Pretrial Fairness and Ending Money Bond: One Year AnniversaryWe continue to celebrate pretrial fairness and they ways it has kept wealth in communities that need it the most (over $140 million!) . Additionally, we are committed to partnering with others who want to see a decrease in incarceration. At the One Year Anniversary gathering, we heard from amazing leaders like Yvette who shared her testimony about the impact of money bond in her life. She reminded us that when you incarcerate a woman, you incarcerate her family. We are so grateful for her testimony and her work in helping protect pretrial fairness. Read for more from the IL Network for Pretrial Fairness at this blog post.
Staff members Rev Allison Farnum and Keith Talley at One Year Celebration at Leighton Criminal Courthouse next to where UUPMI does jail ministry
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. Support Pretrial Success in Illinois!
Photo courtesy of the IL Network for Pretrial Justice
Read this latest report for A Vision for Supporting Communities After the End of Money Bond
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
Learning together
Be sure to check out the Minns Lecture Series from Spring 2024 by the Rev Jason Lydon, including topics like: The UUSC National Moratorium on Prison Construction: A Stepping Stone Toward Abolition, The Prisoners' Friend: Universalism and Punishment, and more!
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.
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Our MissionWe equip UU's in Illinois to transform institutions; partnering with and supporting people harmed by the prison industrial complex. Read More
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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. |
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.
