Earlier this week, the judge in the lawsuit to end money bond in Cook County issued a decision dismissing the case. *This not the decision we wanted, but it is the decision we expected. The civil rights lawyers working on the case plan to appeal.* We know this is not justice, but the judge ruled only based on procedural arguments about the lawsuit. She did not make any decisions about the constitutionality of incarcerating people because they lack the wealth to pay a monetary bond, which we know is both illegal and more importantly, morally indefensible.

We are still fighting for the permanent and statewide end to wealth-based incarceration! While the appeal is pending and policymakers absorb this news, it is important to show how widespread support is for the reforms made in response to the lawsuit and pressure from communities demanding change. Please continue to circulate this petition in the comments to support bond reform in Cook County!

“The Cook County jail population has dropped by about 1,500 [people] in the wake of the order. Sharlyn Grace, [co-]founder of the Chicago Community Bond Fund, which advocates for an end to money bail and supported the lawsuit, said many defendants are still being assigned cash bail amounts they cannot afford. She cited the group’s court-watching report finding that about half of defendants given cash bail after the new rule was instituted were not asked about their ability to pay or assigned bail they could not afford.
…
‘We are going to explore all options to ensure people are not incarcerated pretrial,’ Grace said. ‘We’re optimistic that we’re going to get a good result, and a result that will give us binding and permanent statement on this.'”

Read more in Injustice Watch.