Category Archives: Justice

Incarcerated Activists Raise the Bar on Parole

Posted on June 2019 by Joseph Dole and Shari Stone-Mediatore

Over-incarceration in this country takes many forms. One form that is particularly egregious in Illinois is that of keeping people imprisoned for years, or even decades, beyond the time that they pose any risk to public safety—and even beyond their … Continue reading →

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Faith in Place: Twenty Years Protecting the Earth and All Who Depend on It

Posted on June 2019 by Cindy Shepard

At the dedication of a community garden, in a smallish county seat, I met Robyn, whose high school class had sown and nurtured the vegetable seedlings that we planted that day. She told me: “My special-needs students learn so much … Continue reading →

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Illiberal America: A Report Card

Posted on March 2019 by David Prochaska

I never thought I would live to see the U.S. turn into the illiberal, authoritarian, populist, white-nationalist country it has already increasingly become in early 2019. Illiberalism Turns Liberal Democracy on its Head “Liberal democracy” is characterized in theory by … Continue reading →

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Artist Spotlight on Charlotte Prieu

Posted on November 2018 by Public i

Tell me a little about yourself and your past creative work. I am a French native and a PhD student in French Linguistics at the University of Illinois. I am very passionate about social justice, especially regarding anti-racism and intersectional … Continue reading →

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History Matters: Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Fight for Economic Justice

Posted on May 2018 by Stephanie Fortado

By Stephanie Fortado Dr. Stephanie Seawell Fortado is a Lecturer at the University of Illinois Labor Education Program, providing workshops and extension programming for unions and the general public on the Champaign-Urbana campus and throughout Illinois. Before joining the University, … Continue reading →

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New Bill Takes Effect Cutting Cost of Calls from Illinois Prisons

Posted on January 2018 by Brian Dolinar

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 8, 2018 FOR MORE INFORMATION: Brian Dolinar, Program Director, Independent Media Center, (217) 621-5827, briandolinar@ucimc.org The Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (UCIMC) is proud to announce that as of January 1, 2018, a new state law took … Continue reading →

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“You’re Still in Jail”: How Electronic Monitoring Is a Shackle on the Movement for Decarceration

Posted on December 2017 by James Kilgore

(A longer version of this article originally appeared in Truthout.) By James Kilgore Despite the “law and order” vows of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, states and counties continue to take steps to reduce prison and jail populations. In August, Cook … Continue reading →

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4th Annual Welcome Awards Ceremony Celebrates What Makes America Great

Posted on October 2017 by David Cisneros

By David Cisneros. State, national, and international news media have brought us a daily barrage of tragic or infuriating news stories. And national rhetoric increasingly features voices of nativism, racism, and hatred. In the face of all of this, it … Continue reading →

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Insurgent Midwest: The Constructing Solidarities Symposium

Posted on October 2017 by Ken Salo

by Ken Salo, Zsuzsa Gille and Efadul Huq   [Editor’s note: the Public i requested contributions on this important conference from both organizers and academic attendees; these perspectives have been integrated into this article.] On September 8-10, delegates from grassroots … Continue reading →

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Interview with Marlon Mitchell from FirstFollowers

Posted on September 2017 by Carol Inskeep

.  The local group FirstFollowers is only two years old, but it is already making in impact in our community.  In this interview Marlon Mitchell talks with Carol Inskeep about their mission and the ambitious range of projects the group … Continue reading →

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The Racial Justice Task Force and the slow trudge toward justice in Champaign County

Posted on September 2017 by Albert Stabler

The Champaign County Racial Justice Task Force (RJTF) will be issuing its final report this fall. Those who sought to create this task force, and those working within it, have faced an uphill struggle in trying to get the white … Continue reading →

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Fighting Mass Incarceration Under Trump: New Strategies, New Alliance

Posted on February 2017 by James Kilgore

By James Kilgore Yusef Shakur is a Detroit community organizer who spent several years in Michigan state prisons. “The prison-industrial complex has found the right person to feed it,” he said in response to the election results. “Trump is of … Continue reading →

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A Very Rude Awakening

Posted on January 2017 by Faruq Nelson

“Faruq Nelson is an attorney in solo practice. He has been an active member of the local mosque for nearly 25 years.”   Like almost everyone I know, I could not imagine that Donald Trump would win the presidential election. … Continue reading →

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Regulation of Prison Phone Calls Sweeps the Nation

Posted on November 2016 by Brian Dolinar

The Justice Department’s recent recommendation to end the use of private facilities for US citizens in federal prisons has been hailed as a victory by reformers, but the widespread privatization of everyday services in prison, like hygiene products, food, laundry … Continue reading →

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October Surprise: Harold “Killer” Koh to Lecture at UI Law School in Election Week

Posted on September 2016 by Midge O'Brien

Harold Hongju Koh, Hillary Clinton’s former legal advisor at the State Department  has been invited as an ‘endowed speaker’ at the U.I. College of Law, twelve days prior to the November election. Koh, currently a Yale Law School professor and … Continue reading →

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Statement on the Upcoming Ballot Referendum on “Public Facilities”

Posted on September 2016 by Public i

Statement delivered by Build Programs, Not Jails before the County Board on August 18, 2016.  Last week [on Tuesday, August 9, 2016] the County Board’s Committee of the Whole voted in favor of placing a referendum on the November ballot … Continue reading →

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State’s Attorney Rietz Goes Easy on Violent Police and Jail Officers

Posted on July 2016 by Belden Fields

Rape On March 30, 2015, there was a ceremony in the Champaign City Building during which Officer Jerad Gale was given the award for being “Officer of the Year.” About a year later, in May 2016 this same officer pleaded … Continue reading →

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In Memory, Honor, and Love of Gene Vanderport

Posted on June 2016 by Belden Fields

It is difficult to write about an untimely death of someone whom one has known for almost half a century. Gene was my student, my comrade, and my friend since the late 1960s. Only a couple of years after my … Continue reading →

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The Myron Scruggs Case and the Champaign Police Department

Posted on May 2016 by Belden Fields

by Belden Fields An  Ugly Image From the Past In the late 1960s, I joined the newly created chapter of the Champaign County ACLU and became the chair of its investigations committee. I received a call from a woman member … Continue reading →

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Racism and Mass Incarceration in the US Heartland: Historical Roots of the New Jim Crow

Posted on May 2016 by James Kilgore

If asked what state had the highest rate of incarceration rate of black men, most people would likely cite somewhere in the old Confederacy, perhaps Mississippi or Louisiana. They would be about 1000 miles too far South. According to labor … Continue reading →

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