[Peace-discuss] 7pm Thurs: remind County Board that yes, we support alternatives to incarceration

[Stuart Levy]

Please come to the*7PM Thursday, Nov. 21st County Board meeting*, 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.

Some background:

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.

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!

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.


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.

Some on the Board have been calling for an open public discussion - a 
study session.  We should support them in this!



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