SPRINGFIELD, IL – Illinois became the first state in the U.S. to “to end money-based pretrial detention with the implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act, according to a report by Prison Policy Initiative (PPI).

Because of the Act, the Illinois Office of Statewide Pretrial Services announced the expansion of pretrial electronic monitoring (EM) to 70 of Illinois’ 102 counties, many of which did not have it before, said the PPI.....

.....Citing a new study conducted by nonprofit research group MDRC, PPI said EM neither increased court appearances nor reduced new arrests. 

“As this study notes, people on EM may have more new arrests than those not monitored, as the intense scrutiny of people on EM spotlights even minor infractions that might otherwise go unremarked. 

“Researchers also note pretrial EM creates an entirely new path to incarceration via ‘technical violations,’ which have nothing to do with criminality or public safety, but rather with the impacted person’s ability to navigate a multitude of ambiguous and often draconian conditions.”.....

.....PPI also noted electronic monitoring reinforces racial disparities and undermines families and communities of color because “the overwhelmingly Black and Brown communities” subjected to EM “impedes a person’s ability to take their kids to school or to doctor appointments, to engage in key family events such as the birth of the child or a funeral.....

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