Work over prison: Illinois should expand record sealing

By Hilary Gowins

04/21/2017

Research shows that recidivism rates drop for ex-offenders who are able to find steady employment.

TAGS: criminal justice reform, expungement, prison, prison population, record sealing

General Assembly passes SB 19, which would hinder care for IDOC inmates and saddle taxpayers with unnecessary costs

By Mailee Smith

04/06/2017

Senate Bill 19 could prevent the state from providing the best, most cost-effective medical services for inmates in the Illinois Department of Corrections, and it forces the state to pay for employees that may not be necessary.

TAGS: health care, IDOC: Illinois Department of Corrections, INA: Illinois Nurses Association, labor, prison, prison population

Which Illinois county is most likely to lock you up?

By Bryant Jackson-Green

09/23/2016

Research shows Hardin, Macon and Marion Counties lead the state in prison admissions per 10,000 residents.

TAGS: overcriminalization, prison, prison population, sentencing reform

Illinois voters from all political parties favor reducing state prison population

By Bryant Jackson-Green

08/19/2016

A recent Illinois Policy Institute-commissioned poll finds 4 in 5 registered Illinois voters – including overwhelming majorities of Republicans, Independents and Democrats – support reforms to reduce the number of nonviolent offenders in prison.

TAGS: criminal justice reform, felony, prison overcrowding, prison population

Rauner reaffirms commitment to criminal-justice reform

By Bryant Jackson-Green

01/22/2016

Gov. Bruce Rauner highlights the continued need for criminal-justice reform to save taxpayer dollars and restore opportunity. To get there, Illinois must embrace reforms that enable ex-offenders to provide for themselves and their families once they’ve served their sentences.

TAGS: criminal justice reform, Illinois State Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform, prison population

Illinois leads nation in overcrowded prisons

By Bryant Jackson-Green

10/13/2015

Illinois prisons held 150 percent of their maximum capacity in 2014, the highest rate of crowding of any prison system in the country, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

TAGS: criminal justice reform, prison, prison overcrowding, prison population

Incarceration perpetuates poverty cycle

By Scott Reeder

07/27/2015

The Illinois Department of Corrections reports that 62 percent of inmates are parents.

TAGS: IDOC: Illinois Department of Corrections, nonviolent offense, prison population

Illinois can cut crime and prison-population growth at the same time

By Bryant Jackson-Green

05/14/2015

States across the country have made major gains on both fronts.

TAGS: prison population

Unlocking Opportunity: How Occupational Licensing Reform Would Promote Equitable Empowerment in Illinois

Illinois finds itself at a crossroads: will it empower minorities and poor people to unleash their potential, or will it perpetuate an inequitable status quo? For far too many Illinoisans, opportunity is unfairly and unnecessarily out of reach. Illinois ranks in the bottom ten among all states in social mobility and last among Midwest states...

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Unlocking Opportunity: How Occupational Licensing Reform Would Promote Equitable Empowerment in Illinois

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Martin Sahagun

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students