Illinois criminal justice reform law eliminates bail, but doesn’t erase bias in ‘risk assessment’ for pretrial imprisonment
By Leonna McAfee & Rodricka Taylor Medill Reports Posting bail to stay out of prison when charged with a crime will be a thing of the past in Illinois as of January 2023. Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Pre-Trial Fairness Act (HB3653) into law earlier this year. It ends a pretrial detention system that punishes those […]
Southeast Side activists rally at City Hall urging Lightfoot to deny permit for General Iron
By Leonna McAfee Medill Reports Southeast Side residents on hunger strikes to prevent the move of industrial metal shredder General Iron to move operations from affluent Lincoln Park to the predominantly Black and Latino Southeast Side gathered with area activists and supporters at City Hall for a candlelight vigil Thursday. They called on Mayor Lori […]
African American medical professionals promote vaccines, wellness to combat COVID-19 pandemic
Leonna McAfee Medill Reports Medical professionals in Evanston encourages the Black community and the general public to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated for COVID-19 as a key step in putting the pandemic behind us. Doctors and other medical professionals partnered with the Second Baptist Church and AMITA Health St. Francis Hospital in Evanston […]
Bar association group links environmental racism to higher pandemic rates, lead poisoning, and lasting tolls for tribal nations and communities of color
By Leonna McAfee Medill Reports The civil rights arm of the American Bar Association is calling for legal reforms to prevent pollution threats and other environmental injustices linking tribal communities and communities of color to everything from higher COVID-19 contagion to increased lead poisoning. The ABA’s Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice held a […]
Yemeni activists and supporters demand end to ‘War on Yemen’ on global day of action following a teach-in by CDSA
By Leonna McAfee Medill Reports Dozens of activists from the women’s peace group CODEPINK, Chicago Area Peace Action, Chicago Democratic Socialists of America, and Chicago Committee against War and Racism rallied in downtown Chicago at Federal Plaza on Monday evening, demanding the Biden administration move forward with policies that will end the war in Yemen […]
Chicago rally, car caravan demand end to white supremacy on MLK Day
By Leonna McAfee Medill Reports More than 100 protesters gathered in Federal Plaza for a Trump Out Now! Rally and Car Caravan on Martin Luther King Day Jan. 18 demanding changes from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris just two days before their inauguration. The crowd condemned outgoing President Donald Trump and his […]
