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Please come to the<b> 7PM Thursday, Nov. 21st County Board meeting</b>,
to remind the Board that yes, Champaign County supports alternatives
to incarceration and should retain the money allotted to carrying
them out. Whether you wish to speak or not, it's valuable to show
up to let the Board know that people care about the issue. The
meeting is in the usual place: at the Brookens Center, 1776 E.
Washington (near Washington & Lierman), Lyle Shields room.<br>
<br>
Some background:<br>
<br>
C-U Citizens for Peace and Justice's No More Jails campaign, over
the last couple of years, completely changed the conversation - at
the County Board and elsewhere - from "which architect shall we hire
to build a new County jail" to asking and answering questions like
"what should the County do to reduce the need for putting people in
jail, and to make it less likely that those who do go to jail will
later return". A needs-assessment consultant, ILPP, was hired and
made a number of recommendations. <br>
<br>
At the Oct. 24th County Board meeting, about $200,000 was set aside
to carry out some of those recommendations. This was a good thing!<br>
<br>
Soon after, the News-Gazette reported that a five-week "test" of one
proposed change, related to pre-trial services, was a "dud". This
is strange in several respects: the Board was never told that a test
was underway; five weeks is far too short for such a test in any
case; the people recommended to be hired to assist with the
pre-trial services program weren't actually hired; and so on.<br>
<br>
<br>
It's premature to say that this was a flawed approach, and that the
money slated for it should be redirected for other purposes. Some
in the criminal justice system have been trying to say just that,
and to speak individually to Board members to convince them,
preceding any public meeting on the issue.<br>
<br>
Some on the Board have been calling for an open public discussion -
a study session. We should support them in this!<br>
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