Throughout this year's legislative session, opponents of the Pretrial Fairness Act -- a part of the more comprehensive SAFE-T Act -- have used stories of sexual and domestic violence to make false claims about what legislation ending money bail will do. Lies about the law that are designed to create fear and resistance to reform have been repeated at recent press conferences. It is incredibly frustrating to see survivors' stories weaponized to keep wealth-based incarceration in place, especially considering that survivor advocates like us helped write this policy to end it.
Anti gender-based violence organizations have been on the front lines in the fight for a fair pretrial system in Illinois since Day One, working with groups across the state to stop one of the major injustices of our criminal legal system: wealth-based incarceration. We have been here making sure that survivors' voices are heard and taken seriously while fixing our pretrial practices.
Today's pretrial system does not prioritize the safety of victims. How can it when wealth is the most important factor in determining someone's release? Detained people who can access money are treated as if they're inherently more deserving of freedom and a lower threat than someone who can't pay up. This means individuals who are charged with sexual or domestic violence and are able to be released immediately by posting bail -- through their own finances, by pressuring the victim or other resources -- can place the...
Turkish base fake news in Armenia For several days, a video has been circulating on social media claiming that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan allegedly signed a “secret agreement” with EU ...