News & Commentary

The following can be attributed to Nusrat Choudhury, Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois:

The following statement can be attributed to Khadine Bennett, Advocacy and Intergovernmental Affairs Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois:

As legislators prepare to consider much-needed legislation to reform policing in Illinois, new polling released today shows that 9 out of 10 (91%) Illinois voters are strongly supportive of legislative efforts that hold police accountable for misconduct.

Since the 1970’s, the steep increase in Illinois’ incarcerated population has been driven primarily not by any rise in crime, but by the drastic escalation in the length of sentences imposed by elected officials. As a result, more people spend more of their lives incarcerated than at any point in our state’s history.

Right now, mandatory minimum sentencing laws are extremely punitive to people in Illinois and routinely deny judges in our state the flexibility to craft individualized sentences. Even a man convicted of a nonviolent crime like selling drugs can be required to spend the rest of his life in prison, not because the judge determined that was a fair sentence, but because of a law passed by legislators who knew nothing about the circumstances of the case or his potential for rehabilitation.

Illinois still sends too many people to prison - and gives too many people felony records that follow them for life - for crimes that are often just the symptoms of poverty, addiction, and mental illness. Like a young woman in Chicago, who had her dreams of a career in medicine dashed after pleading guilty to simple drug possession. Or a teenager facing the prospect of prison after being caught stealing a winter coat from a Target store.

The story of mass incarceration in Illinois is a familiar one. Our state’s experience has mirrored the national trend of skyrocketing incarceration rates which took flight in the 1970’s and peaked fewer than 10 years ago, driven by punitive policies enacted in legislatures and fueled by “tough on crime” political rhetoric.

Sandra Botello, an unemployed mother living in Chicago, faced a difficult financial choice – pay $400 in school fees for her son or cover the cost of renewing Chicago’s mandatory vehicle sticker. She paid the school fees, keeping her son’s education moving forward – but within weeks received five $200 tickets for not having a vehicle sticker. Late fees and collection fees caused her debt to balloon to nearly $3000. Chicago impounded Ms. Botello’s car for unpaid tickets, charged additional fees for storing her car for 33 days, ultimately sold the car for scrap, and left her with thousands of dollars of debt. 

Joaquin Herrera-Herrera, a 60-year-old man detained by ICE on pending immigration proceedings since February, yesterday asked a federal court to release him from the Jerome Combs Detention Center (JCDC) in Kankakee because his age and underlying health conditions make him vulnerable to serious complications and death from COVID-19. Mr. Herrera-Herrera came to the United States at age six, and has resided in the Chicago area for almost his entire life. As a business owner, he placed and serviced vending machines in restaurants and medical offices for decades, providing for his three children and – before his detention – acting as caregiver for his grandson for more than six years.