Sangamon County Freedom Fund

Sangamon County Freedom Fund We're a group of local activists working to eliminate cash bail, until that happens, we are raising funds to help get poor people out of jail.

About Us
We’re a group of local activists who understand that poverty is expensive and that poor people are often incarcerated only because they don't have the means or access to bail. We're working with allied organizations to end cash bail in the state of Illinois and until that happens, we are raising funds to help get poor people out of jail. How We Work
We work by word of mouth and through a

llied organizations to help people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford bail. We know we can’t help everyone, but that shouldn’t stop us from helping where we can. We aren’t a judge or a jury, we just believe that poverty isn’t a reason someone should be locked up. Criteria
We look at the following factors as we determine who to help, paying special attention to those most at the margins:
Inability to pay bond required, including lack of access to family or community resources;
The amount of bond to be paid;
Risk of being victimized or experiencing violence in the jail, including but not limited to: race and ethnicity, immigration status, gender identity and expression (namely transgender, gender non-conforming or LGBTQI people), people with disabilities, and youth or elder status;
Special health needs such as pregnancy, chronic medical conditions, or ongoing mental health treatment;
Dependents or other family members who may be harmed by the applicant’s detention, including the risk of custody loss or Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) involvement;
Immigration status and potential immigration consequences of a criminal conviction. Referral through or connection to established partner organization; and
The anticipated impact of detention on applicant’s employment, housing, educational attainment, and/or custodial rights

Donations
Since we’re a volunteer organization, your donations will go directly to helping with bail. To the best of our ability, we will reuse and recycle funds. Once cash bail is eliminated in Illinois, we will donate any existing funds to Black Lives Matter Springfield. You can donate here: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/SangamonFreedomFund

Expungement & Record Sealing Summit pre registration date is quickly approaching! Don't miss this community resource. Pr...
07/05/2023

Expungement & Record Sealing Summit pre registration date is quickly approaching! Don't miss this community resource. Pre-registration deadline is July 14!

Our friends at ACLU IL, Springfield Chapter are hosting this very important event 🚨TONIGHT🚨. We hope to see you there! ...
10/12/2022

Our friends at ACLU IL, Springfield Chapter are hosting this very important event 🚨TONIGHT🚨. We hope to see you there!

Fairness Not Wealth: Ending Money Bail in Illinois - join ACLU of Illinois for two opportunities to learn more about the...
09/30/2022

Fairness Not Wealth: Ending Money Bail in Illinois - join ACLU of Illinois for two opportunities to learn more about the Pretrial Fairness Act. One IRL on 10/12 and one virtual. Head over to their website to learn more!

Join us and learn the facts about how the Pretrial Fairness Act will restore the presumption of innocence and end wealth-based pretrial incarceration in Illinois, and how you can take action to defend the Pretrial Fairness Act against baseless attacks.

09/30/2022
There is lots of false information going around about the Pretrial Fairness Act. Please take a minute to educate yoursel...
09/13/2022

There is lots of false information going around about the Pretrial Fairness Act. Please take a minute to educate yourselves and make sure you're following the Coalition to End Money Bond to stay up to date.

09/12/2022
Sign this petition to call for the end of no knock warrants in Sangamon county. https://www.ilgp.org/no-knock-sangamon/?...
02/07/2022

Sign this petition to call for the end of no knock warrants in Sangamon county.

https://www.ilgp.org/no-knock-sangamon/?fbclid=IwAR3vqUuZOlSJw1wD7mr8OSATaHQ8-BK9XikETvmv-MNLu57d8kCiQise0XU

Petition: End “No Knock” Warrants in Sangamon County! Feb 6, 2022 | Chapter Post, Petitions, Police Reform No knock warrants have long been a point of contention and a common theme in calls for police reform. Despite this, approximately 20,000 no knock raids are performed in the United States ev...

02/01/2022

When the Pretrial Fairness Act goes into effect in 2023, it will improve community safety, reduce pretrial jailing and end wealth-based incarceration but only if Illinois' courts properly implement the law. Today, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice is proud to release “From Policy to Progress: A Roadmap for Successful Implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act”, a report with recommendations to make sure this historic policy change realizes its full potential. Our recommendations were cultivated through years of researching best practices from across the country and are informed by the Principles of Bond Reform which guided the drafting of this transformative legislation. The report also center’s narratives from people directly impacted by the state’s pretrial justice system; these experiences were crucial to shaping the report’s recommendations.

Read the “From Policy to Progress: A Roadmap for Successful Implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act” report: bit.ly/Policy2Progress

Read the report fact sheet summarizing our recommendations: bit.ly/Policy2ProgressFacts

For decades, wealth-based pretrial incarceration has persisted as one of the most glaring inequities in the U.S. criminal legal system. By signing the Pretrial Fairness Act into law, Illinois has taken a bold step towards ending this harmful practice. It is of the utmost importance that our state’s efforts to put this law into effect are successful and do not create new injustices. “From Policy to Progress” will serve as an essential tool to help stakeholders across Illinois ensure that our state leads the nation in pretrial justice reform.

Help protect the Pretrial Fairness Act by calling on your legislators to defend it and stop new laws promoting mass incarceration: bit.ly/DefendPFA

Read this post on our blog: https://endmoneybond.org/2022/02/01/from-policy-to-progress-our-recommendations-for-implementing-the-pretrial-fairness-act/

Action needed: Tell Your Legislator to Defend The Pretrial Fairness Act Today!https://act.newmode.net/action/color-chang...
01/25/2022

Action needed: Tell Your Legislator to Defend The Pretrial Fairness Act Today!

https://act.newmode.net/action/color-change/tell-your-legislator-defend-pretrial-fairness-act-today?fbclid=IwAR3PTrkYQ6TGojKkorHE0R6Xp9XCrZHfWzjsZMqx1a9HOuNGPd32m5t1Vf0

Tell Your Legislator to Defend The Pretrial Fairness Act Today! One year ago Illinois passed historic criminal justice legislation that included the Pretrial Fairness Act and became the first state in the nation to abolish the use of money bail! This is a HUGE victory in the fight to end pretrial de...

01/16/2022

Witnesses describe doomed man's final words

01/14/2022

One year ago today, the Illinois legislature voted in support of the Pretrial Fairness Act, a key component of the criminal justice package bill known as the SAFE-T Act. This historic legislation that will end the state’s use of money bond and dramatically reduce the number of people incarcerated pretrial in Illinois was passed in response to nationwide Black Lives Matter protests following the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Millions of people across the country, in large cities and small towns, took to the streets to demand change in our criminal legal system. The Illinois legislature acted swiftly by taking bold action to support legislative policies taking us from protest to progress.

The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice will spend the next month celebrating this victory and mobilizing our communities to defend these crucial changes to our legal system. We are kicking off this anniversary by sending certificates commemorating this vote to all of the representatives and senators who voted in support of the Pretrial Fairness Act. As you read this, our partners at the Faith Coalition for the Common Good are preparing to mail these to the legislature. During the next month, our partners throughout the state will be hosting educational events to spread the word about these historic changes, aiming to engage more than 500 people from all over Illinois.

This historic change is only possible because of the massive amount of support we received from people like you who have stood with us over the last five years. On this anniversary, we are calling on you to take action with us to defend the Pretrial Fairness Act.

We are less than one year away from the full implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act. People on house arrest with electronic monitoring are already benefiting from your efforts to support this bill. Our collective action in support of pretrial fairness and dismantling systemic racism will benefit people across Illinois for decades to come, but only if we defend them.

Throughout the state, reactionary racist backlash is threatening to not only undo the changes we’ve set in motion, but also to push for regressive policies fueling mass incarceration. We are calling on people across Illinois to come together and let our legislators know that real community safety comes from ensuring that our neighbors have the resources they need to thrive, not through punishment.

Take a moment and use this tool to send your legislators a letter calling on them to say NO to legislation promoting mass incarceration and to defend the Pretrial Fairness Act: https://act.newmode.net/action/color-change/tell-your-legislator-defend-pretrial-fairness-act-today #

Read this post on our blog: https://endmoneybond.org/2022/01/13/one-year-after-the-passage-of-the-pretrial-fairness-act-our-work-matters-now-more-than-ever/

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Springfield, IL

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