Media Advisory: Thursday, July 30, 2020
Contact: Kristi Sanford, 773-456-4024 or kristi@thepeopleslobbyusa.org
Criminal Justice Committee passes “Justice for Black Lives” resolution calling for diversion of money from the jail system to supportive services
Organizers expect passage by the full Cook County Board of Commissioners Thursday, July 30th
What: Press conference praising the expected passage of the Justice for Black Lives resolution by the full Cook County Board of Commissioners on Thursday, July 30, 2020. The criminal justice committee — a committee of the whole board — passed the resolution 16-1 on Monday, July 27.
When: Thursday, July 30, 2020, 4:30 pm
Where: 50 W Washington Ave., Chicago, outside the Richard J Daley Center
Who: Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson and representatives from the campaign’s leading organizations: The People’s Lobby, SOUL – Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, Chicago Community Bond Fund, National Nurses United, and the Shriver Center on Poverty Law.
Forty-three (43) additional organizations officially support the Justice for Black Lives resolution, and more than 300 community leaders and impacted people submitted testimony in support of the resolution at Monday’s Criminal Justice Committee hearing.
Why: The Justice for Black Lives resolution calls on the county to divert money from the jail system to be invested in supportive services — not administered by law enforcement — in Black and Brown communities. The county has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue due to the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. Cutting funding from a massively over-funded jail system can help Cook County avoid cuts to healthcare and other community services desperately needed during a global pandemic. Cook County Commissioners are now beginning the process of 2021 budget negotiations.
Each year, Cook County spends more than $600 million on incarceration through the Cook County Sheriff’s budget, which includes sheriff’s police, the Cook County Jail, and more. Although the jail population had gone down by more than 50% since 2013, the budget for the jail has actually increased by 26%. If the jail budget had gone down proportionally to the number of people locked up, we would have $117 million more for other public services in Cook County.
“Across the globe, people are demanding investment and dignity as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. We must heed that call and shift our focus as a society away from criminalization and incarceration toward preventive investment measures. Black people need jobs that pay a living wage, affordable housing and universal healthcare,” Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson said. “We deserve a community where the jail is not the largest mental health services provider in the county. We must change this dynamic so that our people receive essential services without having to be inmates at the Cook County Jail.”
“The Black community has dealt with decades of devastation caused by police violence and mass incarceration, and now COVID-19 has triggered a health crisis and an economic crisis,” said Rev. Charles Straight of The People’s Lobby. “It would be irresponsible for the County to balance its budget by cutting health care, mental health, public defenders, housing, and other services at this moment. We need to expand these services and instead cut the budgets of the Cook County Jail and Cook County Sheriff.”
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