IMPORTANT UPDATE - Safer Foundation Legislative Advocacy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Public Policy and External Relations May 23, 2012 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SAFER FOUNDATION SUPPORTS SENATE BILL 2621: SAFE AND COST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS TO ILLINOIS PRISON OVERCROWDING        Calls to Senators needed TODAY for SB2621 Sponsored by Senators Kwame Raoul, Michael Noland, John J. Millner, Mattie Hunter, Thomas Johnson, Pamela J. Althoff, Annazette Collins and William Delgado Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie   SENATE BILL 2621 was not called to the Senate floor last week and needs one more push to get it out of the Senate and into the House. This bill has bi-partisan support and Senator Dillard and Senator Raoul need to know that people support this bill.   Please email or call them TODAY and ask your colleagues, associates ,and clients to do the same. SB2621 provides a safe, cost-effective way to reduce Illinois' prison population.   For the past several months, many members of the Coalition for Prison Reform have worked hard to put together SB2621 to address Illinois prison overcrowding. We need Senator Dillard and Senator Raoul to receive messages in their offices today urging them to move SB2621 for a full Senate vote.   Please email or call Senators Dillard and Raoul today and send them this message: "Subject: Move SB2621 today" "Please move SB2621 today. Your support is critical. This bill will help relieve prison overcrowding and protect the safety of inmates, prison staff, and the public." Contact information - Senator Dillard:   Email: Senator@kdillard.com Call: 217.782.8148 Senator Raoul: Email: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001NcPKFEznDeX17pRQrH_idn6oz3pfERGPKFM-JBgIepl8rMzshYH4rc9iylxSITahrUvkm22O_1iuY55oePDrZvZy-XXTthIsoEU7JDJQo3UHJBWFPpaXA5SGna0jyawcfRGpOlI3HEWEYc26f3JjHLCmtcC76ZWe  Call: 217-782-5338   Thank you for your continued support!      RESPONSIBLE EARLY RELEASE   SB2621's Sentence Credits Will Provide A Safe, Cost-Effective Way To Reduce the Prison Population   Sentence credits will protect the safety of staff and inmates by incentivizing good behavior. Sentence credits encourage participation in programming, which studies show to be the most effective way for prison officials to reduce recidivism . Sentence credits are not available to violent offenders. Sentence credits require eligible inmates to earn time off their sentences. Sentence credits' implementation will be open and transparent through an annual reporting requirement. Sentence credits are standard correctional practice in prison systems throughout the country.          Supporters   John Howard Association ACLU of Illinois A Safe Haven Appleseed Foundation Cabrini Green Legal Aid Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM) Coalition for Prison Reform; Illinois Prison Talk League of Women Voters of Illinois Metropolis Strategies Protestants for the Common Good Roosevelt University's Institute for Metropolitan Affairs Roosevelt's Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy Safer Foundation Sergeant Shriver National Center on Poverty Law TASC Youth Advocate Programs, Inc.    If you have any comments or questions, please contact:   Esther Franco-Payne, Program Director Metropolis Strategies (formerly Chicago Metropolis 2020) 30 West Monroe Street, 13th Floor Chicago, IL  60603 312/332-6293 phone 312/332-2626 fax esther.franco-payne@cm2020.org e-mail   "Protecting our nation's children and young people from violence is a responsibility that every American shares. For today's Justice Department, this work is one of most important, and most urgent, priorities." --Attorney General Holder.           Follow Us on Twitter! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Follow @SaferFoundation on Twitter for more updates on criminal justice news and more information about the organization. We appreciate your support!  Public Policy and External Relations Contacts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ B. Diane Williams, President / CEO Veronica Cunningham, Vice President, Public Policy and External Relations Jon Kaplan, Director, Marketing and Communication Anthony Lowery, Director, Policy and Advocacy phone: 312-922-2200 www.saferfoundation.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Many articles refer to people with criminal records as "ex-offenders" or "offenders". While we appreciate all the positive press these issues receive, we are working to use other terms to describe our clients that do not carry such negative connotations. These terms include "people with criminal records" or "people reentering society".