Heartland Alliance Launches Statewide Fully Free Campaign to Reform Criminal Legal System
State-wide coalition of activists and institutions plan to remove hundreds of legal barriers to housing, education, economic opportunity in Illinois. Join us on June 23nd on our Virtual State-Wide Launch from 1 to 2:30pm (CT)
CHICAGO, June 23, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Heartland Alliance's (HA) Fully Free Campaign will launch a state-wide, multi-year effort to end the hundreds of Illinois laws and sanctions that bar people with records from achieving opportunity and self-sufficiency. The June 23 virtual event brings together leading human rights advocates, artists, and Formerly Incarcerated People (FIP) to officially launch the pathway to dismantle these legal penalties, otherwise known as "permanent punishments," that create long-lasting barriers to employment, housing, education, and civil engagement. The virtual event starts at 1 p.m. Central and can be viewed at https://fullyfree.org/virtual-launch.
"The Fully Free Campaign is a first of its kind, a bold Illinois State-wide campaign, led by the expertise of directly impacted people to dismantle the prison after the prison through legislative and narrative change." Marlon Chamberlain, Campaign Manager Fully Free
The Fully Free Campaign formed as a response to the Social IMPACT Research Center's first-of-a-kind study that revealed that permanent punishments impact more than 3.3 million people in Illinois due to former criminal legal system involvement. The report uplifted the critical need to create a state-wide campaign to dismantle permanent punishments.
While the event formally announces the community building and organizing elements of the Campaign, the Fully Free Campaign's legislative advocacy work has already had its first two wins with the Public Housing Access Bill's passing in the Illinois state legislature. As the first of its kind in the country, the law creates uniform standards for the more than 100 public housing authorities across Illinois, creating more equitable criminal background screening processes. And the HB88 bill repeals the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Drug Felony Ban by eliminating the permanent punishment of not being able to access TANF if a person has a record with a drug-related felony conviction.
"Our society is currently rethinking how our laws are enforced, how to create access to opportunities, and how to transform our systems into ones that are equitable and address racial disparities. In order to create a more just society for all in Illinois, the Fully Free Campaign advances the elimination of permanent punishments by dismantling the laws that govern them. This is necessary to undo the barriers that people with criminal records in Illinois have to endure once they return to their communities seeking stability." Carlton T. Mayers II, Sr. Senior Policy Manager for Criminal Justice Reform at Heartland Alliance.
The launch, strategically coinciding with ongoing Juneteenth celebrations, is just one piece of a state-wide organizing effort. Regional Fully Free leader organizations include: All Of Us or None in Peoria; TASC in Bloomington; Beyond the Walls in Carbondale; Live Free IL in Rockford; Restore Justice in Dekalb, First Followers in Champaign, and Gate-Keepers/E.A.T.S in Joliet.
About Heartland Alliance
Heartland Alliance works to advance human rights and champion human dignity by providing services and promoting solutions to achieve a more just global society. Society benefits when all people can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. We will not give up until everyone has access to safety & justice, health & healing, and economic opportunity.
https://www.heartlandalliance.org/
About Fully Free Campaign
The Fully Free Campaign works to dismantle the laws and regulations that govern permanent punishments, which are the barriers that deny or restrict rights and opportunities for people with a record long after their involvement with the criminal legal system is over. In Illinois there are hundreds of permanent punishment laws and regulations in Illinois, mostly denying people housing, education, and employment. The Campaign is based in Chicago, but has partner organizations across the state in Peoria, Rockford, Champagne, Dekalb, Bloomington, Joliet, Aurora, and Carbondale.
https://fullyfree.org/
Follow our journey to end permanent punishments in Illinois:
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Media Contact
Valentina Perez-Botero, Heartland Alliance, 3128487384, [email protected]
SOURCE Heartland Alliance
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