Statement from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) greets the commutation of Gerald Reed’s life sentence today by Governor J. B. Pritzker as a courageous act to set right a terrible crime against a Black man committed 31 years ago. Now we need to finish the job of freeing all survivors of police torture who were convicted by confessions coerced by police and dismantling the prison industrial complex as a whole.
Reed was convicted of a double murder in 1990 after he was tortured by detectives working under the notorious Jon Burge and falsely confessed. He won a new trial after his case was referred to the court for review by the Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission (TIRC), only to have another judge in the same court resentence him to life in prison without a trial.
March 14 statement from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
The Illinois Department of Corrections has declared that all civilian visits to Illinois prison will be suspended indefinitely starting Saturday, March 14, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, for which a national emergency has been declared. New prison inmates arriving from any of the four “Reception and Classification Centers” are reportedly being held in quarantine.
These are minimal steps not based on science. Depriving prisoners of contact with their families only aggravates an already terrible and stressful condition.
A fundamental prerequisite for a science-based policy regarding Covid-19 in prisons and jails demands a crash program to manufacture and give priority distribution of tests and protective gear to those places where they are needed the most – places where people are confined in close quarters such as prisons and jails.
The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression demands that the following scientific and humane steps be taken to contain the spread of the virus and avoid mass death among the incarcerated population:
Designate specific portions of federal emergency funding for addressing the coronavirus within prisons and jails.
Test prison and jail inmates daily for infection and provide hospitalization and treatment for those in need.
Provide hand sanitizer throughout all common areas of prisons and jails and hand washing facilities.
Require that all prison staff, vendors and contractors are queried, screened and tested when indicated for possible exposure and/or infection at every entry into a facility.
Report cases of coronavirus within prison and jails to the public and families.
Allow family and friends visits on the same basis. Provide hand sanitizer throughout visiting rooms and regularly disinfect them. Provide for prisoner and visitor handwashing before and after all visits.
Provide for free phone calls to family and friends during this public health crisis and increase the availability of remote video visits.
Immediately release to their homes or the homes of family and friends all prison inmates who are elderly (over 60) or have medical conditions that compromise their immune system, including Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, cancer, chronic HIV or HCV infection, leukemia, or multiple myeloma.
In addition, the Chicago Alliance endorses and signs on to the letter to Governor J. B. Pritzker on this issue organized by the Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prison (IL-CHEP) and urges all who share our concern for the lives of prisoners to also sign this letter.
Provide a minimum of a 30 day supply of all prescription medications (with written prescriptions) and foodstuffs to those released, and referral to local public health clinics in their areas.
Release on OR bonds all County Jail prisoners being held pending trial, except for those requiring hospitalization for severe mental or physical disorders, or those charged with first degree murder or sexual assault.
Adopt at the state and county level the National Commission of Correctional Health Care
More fundamentally, prison and jail health care system staff and resources need to be drastically ramped up to deal with this public health crisis. The private contracting of prison health care must be ended; sickness and injury to those behind prison walls cannot be a source of private profit.
Statement from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the Chicago Torture Justice Center, and Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition and Solidarity
Judge Thomas J. Hennelly has attempted to illegally reverse the order of another judge, Thomas V. Gainer, who vacated the conviction of Gerald Reed and ordered a new trial. Gainer vacated Reed’s conviction after overwhelming evidence that his “confession” to a double murder in 1990 was the fruit of horrible torture by police working under Cmdr. Jon Burge, torture so extreme that it broke his thigh bone.
Joined the newly reinstated CAARPR (Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression) for a caravan protest for #DefundingthePolice. Things are starting to come to fruition around the country rather quickly but I will admit that I am not sure how we will fare against the monstrosity that is Chicago PD. Mayor Lightfoot is not easing on any budgets or policies despite Chicago PD being the largest PD in the country. Jon joined me again and we took turns driving and killing my car horn. It was calm, cool and collected. I am finally beginning to process the last week and I am, above all else, wholly exhausted.
In an emotional testimony, Rekia Boyd's brother, Martinez Sutton, describes the difficult experiences of dealing with Chicago police and living without his sister after she was murdered by Dante Servin, a Chicago cop. The 2nd People's Hearing on Police Crimes was the second in a series organized by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
