Hi there,

Today is the first of two Public Media Giving Days, a time to celebrate what public and independent media gives to you by giving back. If you think Democracy Now!’s reporting is a critical line of defense against war, climate catastrophe and authoritarianism, please make your donation of $10 or more right now. In honor of Public Media Giving Days, a generous donor will TRIPLE your donation, which means it’ll go 3x as far to support our independent journalism. Democracy Now! is funded by you, and that’s why we’re counting on your donation to keep us going strong. Please give today. Every dollar makes a difference—in fact, gets tripled! Thank you so much.
-Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Illinois Becomes First State to End Cash Bail 

HeadlineFeb 25, 2021

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed legislation making Illinois the first state to end cash bail payments for people seeking release from jail as they await their day in court. It’s part of a sweeping package of criminal justice reforms signed into law Monday. Illinois state Representative Justin Slaughter called the legislation progress against a “criminal justice system rooted in racism,” in a state where Black people make up 14% of the population but more than half of all prisoners.

Rep. Justin Slaughter: “With this bill, we take aim at our overly punitive sentencing policies. We provide more judicial discretion for mandatory minimums. We offer alternatives to custody. And, of course — and we’re going to be saying it over and over again — we end our unfair cash bail system, a system that relies on one’s financial ability or inability to post bond.”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top