Category Archives: incarceration

The $1,686,170 Slap: The Shamar Betts Case Continues

Posted on 11/18/2023 by Janice Jayes

It is hard to understand the magnitude of the restitution fine imposed on Urbana resident Shamar Betts as anything other than the persecution of one young black man. Despite a recent stay on collection of the debt pending a response … Continue reading →

 361 total views,  11 views today

Posted in African American, BLM, incarceration, Justice | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The $1,686,170 Slap: The Shamar Betts Case Continues

Securus is Charging Families Six Dollars for Phone Calls from Jail

Posted on 11/18/2023 by Brian Dolinar

This article originally appeared at Smile Politely on September 28, 2023; reprinted with permission. It has been lightly edited for style. Phone calls are a lifeline for those incarcerated to stay in touch with their families and loved ones. The … Continue reading →

 42 total views

Posted in incarceration | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Securus is Charging Families Six Dollars for Phone Calls from Jail

At the Feds

Posted on 11/18/2023 by Shamar Betts

Shamar Betts had no previous criminal record but was sentenced to three years in federal prison for “inciting a riot” through a Facebook post he wrote after witnessing the video of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. He was also made … Continue reading →

 61 total views

Posted in African American, African Americans, Arts, BLM, incarceration, Prison Arts, Section, Voices, Voices of Color | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on At the Feds

FirstFollowers: Using Participatory Action Research to Make Change in Our Community

Posted on 08/28/2023 by James Kilgore

FirstFollowers has a tradition of doing participatory action research at Champaign-Urbana Days, the premier outdoor summer event aimed primarily at the Black community. Participatory Action Research (often called PAR) aims to gather data and information, not just for publication but … Continue reading →

 198 total views,  1 views today

Posted in African Americans, incarceration, Racism, Section, Violence, Voices of Color | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on FirstFollowers: Using Participatory Action Research to Make Change in Our Community

Diesel Therapy

Posted on 07/18/2023 by Shamar Betts

The odyssey of Urbana resident Shamar Betts continues. Betts was arrested for authoring a Facebook post at age 19 in the wake of the George Floyd murder in 2020. He was sentenced to four years in federal prison and charged … Continue reading →

 355 total views

Posted in African American, African Americans, BLM, incarceration, Justice, Prisoners, Section, Voices, Voices of Color | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Diesel Therapy

Illinois Correctional System: What Is It Really?

Posted on 05/01/2023 by Kevin Stirnichuk

The Public i is partnering with the Education Justice Project (EJP) to share writing completed by incarcerated students at the Danville Correctional Center. The EJP is a comprehensive college-in-prison program based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Through its educational … Continue reading →

 352 total views

Posted in Arts, Education, incarceration, Prison Arts, Prisoners, Section, Voices | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Illinois Correctional System: What Is It Really?

Frustrations of Peer-to-Peer Education in Prisons

Posted on 02/10/2023 by Mathew Laird

The Public i is partnering with the Education Justice Project (EJP) to share writing by incarcerated students at the Danville Correctional Center. The EJP is a comprehensive college-in-prison program based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Through its educational programming … Continue reading →

 274 total views

Posted in Arts, Education, incarceration, Prison Arts, Prisoners, Section, Voices | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Frustrations of Peer-to-Peer Education in Prisons

No Such Thing As a “Safe” Jail: 31-Year-Old Woman Dies at Champaign County Jail

Posted on 02/10/2023 by Brian Dolinar

On October 13, 2022, Tillie Deitz, a mother of three young children, died in the Champaign County jail. As I found in my own review of publicly available documents, Deitz admitted to being a drug user upon entering the jail … Continue reading →

 329 total views,  1 views today

Posted in Drug policy, incarceration, Police | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on No Such Thing As a “Safe” Jail: 31-Year-Old Woman Dies at Champaign County Jail

The Assault on the Pretrial Fairness Act

Posted on 11/04/2022 by Carol Skalnik Leff

Last month, News-Gazette columnist Jim Dey headlined “hysteria” over the provisions of the 2021 Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA), which will go into effect in January, including the end to cash bail. Predictably, but illogically, Dey located the hysteria on the side … Continue reading →

 797 total views,  1 views today

Posted in IL, incarceration, Justice, Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Assault on the Pretrial Fairness Act

Links

Posted on 11/04/2022 by Thomas Stromblad

The Public i is partnering with the Education Justice Project (EJP) to share writing completed by incarcerated students at the Danville Correctional Center. The EJP is a comprehensive college-in-prison program based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Through its educational … Continue reading →

 272 total views

Posted in Arts, incarceration, Prison Arts, Prisoners | Tagged , | Comments Off on Links

Donald Trump v. Shamar Betts

Posted on 09/18/2022 by Shamar Betts

I, Shamar Betts, incited a riot through a Facebook post encouraging my people to join alongside the rest of the world in an attempt to express our feelings on the tragic death of George Floyd in May of 2020. Although … Continue reading →

 448 total views

Posted in African American, African Americans, BLM, Court System, incarceration, January 6 insurrection, Justice, Prisoners, Racism, Trump, Voices of Color, Youth | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Donald Trump v. Shamar Betts

Reckless Law, Shameless Order: Behind the Scenes

Posted on 06/25/2022 by Nasrin Navab

  One afternoon in April of 2021 Faranak Miraftab called me to ask if I was interested in holding an art workshop with formerly incarcerated artists in continuation of the “IDENSCITY,” a conceptual art space that I had been developing … Continue reading →

 440 total views

Posted in African Americans, African Americans, Arts, Immigrants, incarceration, Local Arts, Prison Arts, Prisoners, Voices, Voices of Color, Women | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Reckless Law, Shameless Order: Behind the Scenes

Two Stories from Statesville Prison

Posted on 05/13/2022 by Leo Cardez

Saving Your Mind: Mental Health in the Age of Corona “This is some next-level shit. I thought I’d seen it all in my 20 years in prison,” said Murder (no real names used), my Quarantine Sanitation Specialist co-worker, as we … Continue reading →

 509 total views,  5 views today

Posted in Arts, incarceration, Local Arts, Prison Arts, Prisoners | Comments Off on Two Stories from Statesville Prison

Urbana-Champaign Books to Prisoners’ Mission to Bring Books (and Bibliophilia) Behind Bars

Posted on 05/13/2022 by Katherine Langdon

When it comes to helping people make a fresh start after incarceration and avoid returning to prison, few approaches are as effective and vital as education. Many people who wind up in the prison system do not have enough literacy … Continue reading →

 549 total views

Posted in Education, incarceration, Libraries, UC-IMC, UCIMC | Comments Off on Urbana-Champaign Books to Prisoners’ Mission to Bring Books (and Bibliophilia) Behind Bars

Shamar Betts Case Moves to Federal Appeals Court

Posted on 05/13/2022 by Janice Jayes

On April 8, the case of Urbana resident Shamar Betts moved to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Betts was arrested in June, 2020 in the midst of a national crackdown on protests against the murder … Continue reading →

 926 total views

Posted in African Americans, BLM, incarceration, Justice, Racism | Comments Off on Shamar Betts Case Moves to Federal Appeals Court

“It’s a Money Grab”: Billions in COVID Relief Going to Fund Police and Prisons

Posted on 05/12/2022 by Brian Dolinar

If you’re from inner-city Birmingham, Alabama, there’s a “99-percent chance” you have a family member or friend who has been incarcerated, according to Veronica Johnson, deputy director for the Alabama Justice Initiative, which has been fighting against a proposal to … Continue reading →

 440 total views

Posted in African Americans, COVID-19, incarceration, Justice, Police, police accountability, Policing | Comments Off on “It’s a Money Grab”: Billions in COVID Relief Going to Fund Police and Prisons

Fines, Fees, and Escalating Bail Bonds: Champaign County Urgently Needs to Implement the Pretrial Fairness Act

Posted on 03/31/2022 by Chelsea Birchmier and Phillip Ernstmeyer

The Champaign County Bailout Coalition (CCBC) is a grassroots organization that uses community donations to pay low bail amounts for incarcerated individuals who don’t have access to financial resources in their moment of crisis. Founded in 2018, CCBC now pays … Continue reading →

 795 total views

Posted in Champaign County, Court System, incarceration, Justice, Poverty | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Fines, Fees, and Escalating Bail Bonds: Champaign County Urgently Needs to Implement the Pretrial Fairness Act

Taking the Band-Aid Off of Mass Incarceration

Posted on 02/10/2022 by Brian Dolinar

On a bad day, those of us seeking justice can find little to be hopeful about. The recent acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse again reminds us that the law is designed to protect white lives. Even after widespread protests and demonstrations … Continue reading →

 744 total views

Posted in African American, BLM, Champaign County, incarceration, Justice, Police brutality, Policing, Section, State Government | Comments Off on Taking the Band-Aid Off of Mass Incarceration

Hunger Strike, Ceiling Collapse, Lawsuit Spotlight Deteriorating Conditions at Logan Women’s Prison in Illinois

Posted on 11/15/2021 by Brian Dolinar and Panagioti Tsolkas

“I’ve been incarcerated since the age of 18, I grew up in the penal system,” shares Mishunda Davis. “I went from the Cook County jail to Dwight prison, to Lincoln, and I have never seen as many condemned buildings as … Continue reading →

 1,392 total views

Posted in incarceration, prison strikes, Women | Comments Off on Hunger Strike, Ceiling Collapse, Lawsuit Spotlight Deteriorating Conditions at Logan Women’s Prison in Illinois

Bail Systems as Wealth-Based Incarceration, or “No Money, No Justice”

Posted on 04/04/2021 by Carol Skalnik Leff

  The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits “excessive” bail, a prohibition that dates back to English common law, and is largely honored in the breach. In Champaign County Jail, on any given day this past winter, there were … Continue reading →

Posted in Court System, IL, incarceration, Justice, National, Women | Comments Off on Bail Systems as Wealth-Based Incarceration, or “No Money, No Justice”