News
Should incarcerated people get early access to Covid-19 vaccines? Illinois says ‘yes.’
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Illinois is one of a handful of U.S. states that will prioritize incarcerated people in the next phase of its rollout.
News
Chicago mayor’s ‘pandemic budget’ passes, but with the most opposition in 30 years
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After a historic budget season, 21 City Council members voted against the mayor’s proposed budget last week. City Bureau spoke with organizers and members of City Council about their plans moving forward.
Essential Work
Listen: Youth organizers discuss Black joy, West Side history and the future
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“We are the revolution. It is in our bodies. It is in our bones. It is in our art. It is in the way that we speak.”
Essential Work
Essential Work: Young Black activists ‘in the middle of history’ confront Covid-19 and racism
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GoodKids MadCity youth organizers China Smith and Miracle Boyd reflect on their experiences amid the pandemic and the growing movement against racial injustice, part of our ‘Essential Work’ series.
Coronavirus
Illinois released white inmates at disproportionately high rates amid pandemic, report shows
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State prisons now hold an even larger proportion of Black and Latinx prisoners than before COVID-19 hit, according to a new analysis.
Commentary
Police violence, coronavirus and inequality stealing black lives
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“The police violence and the impact of the pandemic are two sides of the same coin,” writes Susan Smith Richardson, CEO of the Center for Public Integrity.
Commentary
‘I didn’t envision being released in a pandemic’
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Curtis Ferdinand dreamt of freedom for 24 years. But he never imagined getting out of prison at a time like this, amid a public health crisis and unrest.
Commentary
Open letter to Chicago’s top cop: COVID-19 police ‘surge’ terrorizing West Side black communities
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Organizer Richard Wallace says the police department is using force to make black residents follow stay-at-home orders, “regardless of the circumstance.”
Commentary
Federal Court intervenes as the humanitarian crisis in Cook County Jail grows
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The federal judge’s order didn’t go as far as some civil rights advocates had hoped. The ongoing work of pushing for structural change to the criminal justice system must continue.
Cook County Circuit Court
Activists demand courts release detainees amid COVID-19 concerns
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In an open letter to Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans, reform advocates are demanding the release of as many detainees as possible in order to mitigate risks related to the new coronavirus.