Stats from the McLean County Jail, accurate as of March 21st, 2023:
Jail population: 216
Proportions by gender: are female: 35 (16%) are male: 181 (84%)
Proportions by race: Black: 110 (50%) Other Minority: 13 (6%) Persons of a Colonial Complexion: 96 (44%)
Number of people over 50: 25 (12%) Number of people sentenced: 13 (6%) Number of people pretrial (felony): 186 (86%) Number of people pretrial (misdemeanors): 8 (4%) Number of people pretrial for drug offenses: 67 (31%) Number of out of county residences: 68 (31%) Number of people prescribed mental health medication: 65 (30%)
Average Population Data between December 1st, 2022-March 21st, 2023
[FULL DISCLOSURE: The editor of Agitation Rising News is a founding member of CIRC.]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!
January 22, 2022
The Central Illinois Research Collective (CIRC) supports the new criminal justice reform law, HB 3653, signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker in 2021. Our organization strongly supports the principles of this law like police transparency, accountability, and alternatives to policing.
Central Illinois Research Collective (CIRC) logo
We are releasing this guidance to assist local municipalities in properly interpreting & implementing HB 3653. We believe it is important for public officials to know that our membership supports this legislation. We encourage public officials to embrace these reforms & implement them to the best of their abilities. Furthermore, our organization is looking to hold public officials accountable when it comes to this responsibility.
Our organization is co-hosting a Virtual Town Hall on Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 1:00 PM with the AfroSocialists and Socialists of Color of Bloomington-Normal to explain the guidance in greater detail. This law has left much controversy and questions around how it will be implemented throughout Illinois. This law is much more than just the Pretrial Fairness Act. This event hopes to bring clarity to the important nuances of the law. Our Town Hall will also address follow-up laws adjusting HB 3653.
268,000 people are incarcerated by the federal government, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. 32%, or 85,000, are being held in privately-run prisons. 55,000 federal inmates are held in privately-operated prisons for non-immigrant related offenses. They make up 20% of the total federal incarcerated population that will eventually be moved to public prisons or released.
No word yet from President Biden on why he left out immigrants from this executive order.
Of the 2.3 million people incarcerated in the United States, less than 9% are held in privately-operated facilities. A majority of those incarcerated in private prisons are not in the Federal system, but state & local institutions.
Virtual Town Hall: Discussion on Ending Money Bail organized to educate the public on ending money bail, the Pretrial Fairness Act, and future steps.
#EndMoneyBail
Co-hosted by: Wayman AME Church Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington Normal Bloomington-Normal Chapter of NAACP Bloomington-Normal League of Women Voters Coalition to End Money Bond Black Lives Matter Bloomington-Normal Bloomington-Normal Democratic Socialists of America YWCA McLean County Not In Our Town Bloomington-Normal
Those wishing to sign up for ‘Decarcerate BloNo’ can email decarcerateblono@gmail.com. We’ve also got our next meeting for local folks like us to build connections, learn more about the implementation of the PFA, and determine our next steps for supporting our community until cash bail ends in 2023. Join us on Thursday, February 18, 6:30 – 7:30 pm. Register here.
If you’d like to stay updated on and get involved in our work, sign up.
For more on police reform see here. For more on the Pretrial Fairness Act, see here.
Anyone interested in learning more about the Pretrial Fairness Act or how to join the fight to end money bail, should check out this Virtual Townhall scheduled for Saturday, January 16th, 2021. The virtual town hall will inform our community on the progress being made to end wealth based pretrial detention.
Join us in learning more about pretrial detention, the Pretrial Fairness Act, and what you can do to help end the unjust practice of money bond in Illinois.
Prior registration is required for this event. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
