Halfway through 2020, the number of Black residents of Cook County who’ve died by suicide has already surpassed last year’s total. “Ignoring the issue until it becomes a crisis has become the method of treatment,” says one mental health advocate.
News
The Chicago police union is trying to put its members on the state’s torture inquiry commission
|
Two bills introduced by Republicans in the state legislature are “a smack in the face,” says one torture survivor.
Prisons and Jails
Judge strikes down ban on transfers to Illinois prisons
|
The ruling by a Logan County Circuit Court Judge could cut the Cook County Jail population by ten percent.
News
Chicago Is Spending $1.6 Billion on 13,000 Police. Is It Worth It?
|
With shootings and murders on the rise and President Trump sending federal agents to the city, community organizers and criminologists point to a police hiring spree from just four years ago to show that more cops on Chicago’s streets aren’t the answer.
News
Lawsuit claiming Tom Dart unlawfully detained people after they posted bond can go forward
|
The Cook County Sheriff’s policy to reject some people who had been ordered released on electronic monitoring may have violated the Fourth Amendment, an appellate court ruled.
News
Trump’s plan to deploy federal agents in Chicago met with lawsuit from community groups
|
About a dozen community groups filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to ensure that federal agents don’t violate protesters’ constitutional rights.
Anti-racism
Listen: Chicago youth leaders Miracle Boyd and China Smith reflect on activism, trauma, and growth
|
Two youth organizers with GoodKids MadCity share what activism has taught them, how it has affected them, and how they want to transform Chicago.
Data
Why is the Cook County Jail population rising?
|
There are about 800 more people in the jail than there were in early May. Injustice Watch took a closer look at what’s causing the change.
Essential Work
Essential Work: Young Black activists ‘in the middle of history’ confront Covid-19 and racism
|
GoodKids MadCity youth organizers China Smith and Miracle Boyd reflect on their experiences amid the pandemic and the growing movement against racial injustice. This is the first entry in a series about resilience and resistance by young Black Chicago activists.
Commentary
Abolition: ‘They said what they said’
|
To educate ourselves, and our readers, Injustice Watch hosted a conversation with six Chicago-area abolitionists. Here’s a snapshot of what we heard.
In Plain View
Q&A: The history of imagery in Black social movements
|
A year after publishing In Plain View, Injustice Watch spoke with professor Leigh Raiford about the role imagery and photography play both in upholding white supremacy and in defining Black-led social movements.