Our mission is to hold the Justice System accountable through a transparency policy that will monitor human practices to ensure that the incarcerated are treated with human dignity.
Our mission is to hold the Justice System accountable through a transparency policy that will monitor human practices to ensure that the incarcerated are treated with human dignity.
CURE IL, Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants, 501(3)(c)
PROBLEMS WITH THE INCARCERATION SYSTEM IN ILLINOIS AND THEIR EFFECTS
1.
1.
We are the only state without a mechanism for compassionate release. We are one of a few states that lack a sentence readjustment or compassionate release for those that are ill or are the only caretaker for a relative.
2.
2.
Corrections have still not corrected mistakes found in past audits. Some correction officers, with a GED and only 3+ years experience, make more than the wardens and the directors of departments. This does not stop because of age; with pensions it just grows. The cost of litigation for human rights violations is a significant percentage of the Corrections budget.
3.
3.
Vendor kickbacks, food paid for but never getting to prisoners, sexual crimes, abuse of power, sleeping on the job, nepotism are just a few cases of abuse that happen daily. Right now we have the fox guarding the hen house and this allows continued and escalating abuse. We need to clean our house and ‘Sunlight is the best bleach.’
4.
4.
A phone call from a legislator might save millions or more. Allowing the legislatures to be an oversight group to address any concerns their constituents might have would enable them to see the results of their current policy. It only means adding a line. [w A new federal first step act’s resentencing policy needs to be crafted.
PRISONS AND THE ECONOMY AT LARGE
The United States’ world-leading incarceration rates make it “an international outlier.” The Country spends over $80 billion annually on maintaining its growing prison population. Recent analysis of crime rates by New York Times Opinion contributors show this system fails cost-benefit analysis.
The cost of prisons expands into the larger economy. High prison costs mean states dedicate more funds to incarceration than to other budget items. The amount spent on prisoners tends to exceed the amount a state spends on education for each public school student.
(Sources: 2014 report by the Hamilton Project, U.S. News opinion piece & CNN)
Please Donate
Help bring civil rights oversight to Illinois prisons.
Our organization is entirely funded by donations like yours. With your help, we can continue the fight to bring oversight and and transparency to the prison system.