NEWS

Peace in the Streets fights community violence

July 16, 2019

To fight the tide against community violence, one local church will take to area neighborhoods this weekend.

Illinois puts ankle monitors on thousands. Now it has to figure out who gets tracked—and why

July 15, 2019

Corrections officials have little data on the electronic monitoring of former prisoners. A new bill aims to change that.

New group antes up cash to help poor make bail

July 11, 2019

Devi Davis and April Angermeier are challenging the cash bail system that keeps poor people awaiting trial locked up in Marion County jails, often putting their jobs and homes at risk.

Fines, jail, probation, debt: Court policies punish the poor

July 10, 2019

Like other low-income defendants in similar situations across the country, Gibbs couldn’t pay and ended up serving jail time and probation. That incurred another cost: a monthly supervision fee to a private probation company.

Detroit Bail Project aims to disrupt the process of cash bail and incarceration

July 9, 2019

Asia Johnson calls herself a "bail disruptor." It's a title she's proud of. In her work with The Bail Project, a national nonprofit working toward ending mass incarceration, Johnson has helped a lot of people who have not been convicted of a crime to get released from Wayne County's jails.

Digital Jail: How Electronic Monitoring Drives Defendants Into Debt

July 3, 2019

Ankle bracelets are promoted as a humane alternative to jail. But private companies charge defendants hundreds of dollars a month to wear the surveillance devices. If people can’t pay, they may end up behind bars.

AP Investigation: Many US jails fail to stop inmate suicides

June 18, 2019

The last time Tanna Jo Fillmore talked with her mother, she was in a Utah jail, angry, pleading and desperate. She'd called every day that past week, begging for help. I need my medicine, she demanded.
I have to get out of here! she screamed.

Long lockdown hours affect both inmates and officers at Winnebago County Jail

February 22, 2019

 A state inspection has found that the Winnebago County Jail is understaffed. As a result, inmates often spend long hours on lockdown, something inmates contend can make mental health issues worse and is inhumane treatment for people awaiting trial.

Wrongful death lawsuit filed in Winnebago County Jail inmate’s suicide

January 15, 2019

ROCKFORD — Family members of a Rockford man who died after hanging himself in the Winnebago County Jail last year have filed a wrongful death lawsuit contending he wouldn’t have died if the jail staff had checked him properly.

Shortage in attorneys impacts Winnebago County Jail population

August 2, 2018

A shortage in the number of attorneys in the public defender and state’s attorney’s is having an impact on the Winnebago County justice system.