Defend Bail Reform in Cook County
On Wednesday, March 31, 2020, we’re going to back to court to support Thedford Garber Law in their lawsuit against Sheriff Tom Dart’s inexcusable refusal to release people from jail onto electronic monitoring despite orders from judges to do so. Join us in supporting this class action lawsuit and defending bail reform from the Sheriff’s attacks!
The hearing will take place at at 9:30am before the Seventh Circuit in the Federal Courthouse (219 S Dearborn St,) in Room 2721. Please arrive before 9:00am to ensure you have passed through security and are seated in court before proceedings begin. Note that you cannot bring liquids inside the courthouse.
In May 2019, this lawsuit was dismissed, but Thedford Garber Law has appealed the decision and oral arguments will take place on March 31st. Please arrive before 8:30am to ensure you have passed through security and are seated in the courtroom before proceedings begin.
In February 2018, CCBF worked with Thedford Garber Law to support Taphia Williams, one of the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit (more background). After we paid Ms. Williams’ $5,000 bond, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office refused to release her onto electronic monitoring for more than three days, citing Dart’s disagreement with the judge’s bond decision. Earlier that same week, Dart had announced the implementation of unilateral reviews by his office for people whose bond conditions he found unsatisfactory in interviews with the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune. Under that practice, Sheriff’s Office employees detained individuals even after their bonds had been paid or they were otherwise eligible for release in order to conduct additional discretionary reviews of their current charges and background. This means people were intentionally jailed by the Sheriff’s Office despite orders for their release.
