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Dear Chief Judge Evans,

The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented threat to public safety. The criminal courts, in particular, have a critically important responsibility in permitting people under their jurisdiction to follow CDC recommendations to stay home when feeling ill to properly care for their families and communities. We commend your March 13, 2020, general order partially closing the courts through April 16. That order took important and prompt steps to avoid causing a greater spread of the virus through the court system, particularly via mandated appearances. As you know, conditions are changing every day. Government officials are continually increasing restrictions on public gathering and encouraging as many people as possible to stay home to stem the spread of this deadly disease. 

The novel coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic represent an unprecedented threat to people taken into Cook County’s custody. People in jail are simply unable to perform the “social distancing” that federal, state, and local officials have stressed is essential to slow the rate of infection. Police officers, corrections officers, and individuals newly admitted to custody threaten widespread contagion. Individuals exposed to COVID-19 who are taken to the Cook County Jail put the thousands of people detained and working there at risk. In the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, which is under your direct control, 150 children are being held without any schooling, programming, or regular contact with their families and loved ones. With one of the largest jail and court systems in the country, Cook County should lead by example and take additional proactive steps to protect the children and adults in its care, who are currently detained, and prevent their exposure to further harm.

We urge you to work with the county’s judges, the Cook County Board and Sheriff, the State’s Attorney and Public Defender’s offices, and other decision-makers to immediately depopulate the jail and the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center as much as possible; stem the flow of new arrests entering the criminal and juvenile systems; and avoid making any person feel obligated to unnecessarily come to a public space during this outbreak.

We urge you to take the following specific actions to protect the health and well-being of the people of Cook County, both in custody and in the public:

1. Instruct Cook County judges to acknowledge the substantial risk that incarceration in Cook County jail poses to the health of accused people and the health of the public, and grant bond reduction and review motions as often as possible. A March 18 article in the Chicago Sun-Times makes clear that many judges are failing to factor in the threat of coronavirus in their bond decisions, and thus are endangering the health of thousands of people incarcerated in Cook County Jail. It is a well-known fact that jails and prisons are dangerous hot spots for disease transmission, particularly influenza, and many had outbreaks of the biologically similar H1N1 flu in 2009. CDC Director Anthony Fauci has been clear that coronavirus is more deadly and more transmissible than H1N1 or common influenza. Judges who do not take this threat seriously are putting accused people, workers inside the jail, and the general public at risk. COVID-19 is not only dangerous to people who are elderly or have health conditions, but to everyone; bond reductions and review must be granted to as many accused people as possible, regardless of individual medical risk. Every person in the jail is a person with an elevated  risk of contracting, transmitting, and suffering or dying from this disease. You should instruct Cook County’s judges to deny release only when an accused person poses an imminent risk of harm to another individual. 
2. Order the case review and pretrial release of all people held on misdemeanors, technical violations of probation and pretrial release, and unpaid money bonds, and order Judges not to issue any new no-bond orders or money bonds in these situations. There are currently 5,588 people incarcerated in Cook County Jail in close, unsanitary conditions. This disaster waiting to happen  has already hit many other correctional facilities around the world. According to your own data, between July and September 2019, 1,040 people were in jail for failure to pay a money bond. As defined by your office, 36.4% of all people in the jail were held on “non-violent/non-weapon” cases. Cook County should immediately release all people who a judge has deemed safe to return to the community, including everyone incarcerated due to unpaid money bonds, as well as those held on technical violations, misdemeanors, non-violent felonies, and other low-level offenses. 
3. Immediately order judges in the Criminal Courts not to record failures to appear or issue arrest warrants for missed court dates, including preliminary hearings, arraignments, and other cases for which the court is still in session. Appearances should be waived in the court’s records so that accused people are not later punished for the court closure–whether it is in the pending case, through risk assessments, or in future cases. It is our understanding that appearances have been waived for criminal court (except preliminary hearings and arraignments), yet we are aware of instances in which “Failure to Appear” or simply “Defendant Not in Court” has been recorded in individual cases on court dates during the closure. With respect to mandatory appearances, there are many understandable, and indeed advisable, reasons that individuals may miss court in their cases during this pandemic. With public schools closed and seniors at particularly high risk, caregivers are less likely to be able to substitute care for their loved ones while attending court dates. Moreover, information on closures of public services has been overwhelming and often confusing. CBS Chicago’s March 13 headline, for example, was “Cook County Court System Effectively On Hold.” Naturally, many people are likely to mistakenly believe the courts are completely closed and that their court dates are canceled or rescheduled. No one should be arrested and incarcerated for missing a court date during a period of time when the courts themselves have largely closed. 
4. Order judges to recall or suspend all open warrants issued for reasons that do not impact public safety. Courts should immediately recall or suspend warrants for unpaid fines and fees, technical probation violations, missed court dates on misdemeanor and non-violent felony cases, and other minor issues. Each warrant remaining open represents a person who may be arrested by law enforcement and jailed, exposing them to dangerous health conditions within Cook County Jail. 
5. Immediately release as many children as possible from the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. Right now in JTDC, approximately 150 young people are being detained pretrial; these youth are currently not in school, have no programming, and are not allowed family nor attorney visits. It is unconscionable to incarcerate children during a public health emergency like this, especially given the increased risk incarceration brings to them. The juvenile courts should immediately release any child who is not an imminent public safety threat and whenever possible, halt all new admissions to the JTDC.
6. Ensure that conditions are humane for children who remain in the detention center. We know that not every child in the detention center will be released. For those that remain, it is imperative that they are not kept in solitary confinement and are instead allowed to have regular social interaction that adheres to best practices in juvenile detention settings. The population of JTDC must be reduced to a level that allows the facility’s reduced staff to monitor children in these conditions. Juveniles should be given increased access to the phone to contact their family and loved ones, free of charge or time limits, during this crisis.
7. Allow all pretrial and probation reporting to be accomplished by phone; suspend any drug testing or other probation conditions that require physical presence at an office. For the safety of accused people, their families, and court staff, individuals should not be required to come to public buildings unless absolutely necessary. All routine check-ins should be made by phone, email, mail, or other means. 
8. Ensure that individuals on Pretrial Services Home Confinement are given liberal movement permissions. Individuals subject to any level of home confinement under the supervision of the Pretrial Services Division must be provided with liberal movement (the ability to leave one’s home). All 24-hour curfews should be shifted to a 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM curfew, which allows people to obtain groceries and other supplies, seek medical treatment, collect school meals, and provide elder and child care in other households. 
9. Order adult and juvenile probation officers not to file any new technical violations of probation or pretrial services violations due to misdemeanor or traffic arrests. Adding new people to the jail only increases the risk to incarcerated people and the public as a whole. In addition, these kinds of violations often result in no-bond holds while the accused people wait to be heard by the judge overseeing probation; at present, such reviews will be significantly delayed given the closure of most criminal courts. No one who is not found to pose an immediate threat to the safety of an individual should be admitted to Cook County Jail during this pandemic.
10. Make a clear, public announcement of the measures implemented. It is important that as many accused people as possible receive accurate and timely information about court closures, new processes, and the implications for their cases so that they do not risk leaving their homes to unnecessarily travel to court.

In addition to working closely with criminal justice stakeholders, we also urge you to work closely with the Forcible Entry and Detainer (“Eviction”) Section and the Child Protection Division stakeholders. Many people that utilize these courts were vulnerable before the COVID-19 pandemic and are even more vulnerable now; these constituents are in great risk of becoming completely financially destabilized and homeless as this crisis continues. In light of this, we urge you to consider taking these additional steps:

1. Work with the Chief Justice and Administrative Director of the Illinois Supreme Court to issue an emergency order instituting a statewide moratorium on all rental housing evictions and property tax sales, as has been done in Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, and North Carolina. At a minimum, there should be a moratorium on all rental housing evictions in Cook County extending beyond the current 30-day order, similar to what was done inLos Angeles. The order should also include a moratorium on the filing of new evictions, property tax sales, and foreclosure cases until the economy is able to recover from the financial hardship caused by this pandemic. A moratorium of this kind would prevent people from being evicted due to lost wages, business closures, layoffs, or medical expenses. It would also help ensure that our shelter system does not become overwhelmed during this time and will allow people to shelter in place.
2. Suspend the collection of all outstanding court fines and fees for criminal, civil, and traffic matters; suspend all post-judgment collection actions, including lifting bank freezes and wage garnishments; extend the amount of time a person has to pay traffic related fines. Many people will soon, if not already, experience extreme economic hardship due to loss of wages and unexpected medical bills. Decreasing the burden of court-related expenses will be necessary to facilitate stability and maintenance of shelter during the coming months. Payment of court obligations under threat of penalty must not take precedence over the ability of individuals to provide for themselves and their families. In addition to lifting bank freezes and wage garnishments, courts should extend the time to pay traffic related fines and court fees until after this crisis has ended. Additionally, the courts should suspend its notification process to the Secretary of State for failure to appear and failure to pay traffic tickets so that people do not lose their ability to drive.
3. Require child protection courts to create an emergency plan and facilitate parents’ abilities to seek reunification with their children. Now, more than ever, it is important for families to be together. It is imperative that parents’ constitutional right to parent be maintained and that the statutory timelines for reunification remain at the front of everyone’s minds. Therefore, we ask:
   • While remaining closed, the courts should provide opportunities for enforcement of court mandates and of parental rights (i.e., create mechanisms for attorneys to call judges and schedule emergency motions and/or hearings virtually).
   • Implement rules that require judges–currently and upon courts reopening–to accommodate for difficulties experienced by parents seeking reunification with their children due to the court’s closure and the COVID-19 pandemic.
   • Work with judges in child protection court rooms to ensure that DCFS is taking the necessary steps to accommodate parents’ progress towards reunification with their children. 

We appreciate the steps that you have already taken to protect public health during this unprecedented crisis. Still, more significant action is necessary to ensure the safety of all Cook County residents, including our most vulnerable populations. We would be more than happy to speak about these recommendations further; please provide us with information about the status of these recommendations. You can contact Sarah Staudt, Senior Policy Analyst for Chicago Appleseed & Chicago Council of Lawyers, to get more information about these recommendations or to discuss your office’s progress in addressing this emergency. 

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Signed, 

Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice

Chicago Council of Lawyers

ACLU of Illinois

Cabrini Green Legal Aid

Chicago Community Bond Fund

Chicago Urban League

Community Renewal Society

Illinois Justice Project

Illinois Prison Project

Interfaith Criminal Justice Task Force

John Howard Association

Live Free Chicago 

Loevy & Loevy

Rights and Restoration Law Group, LLC

Shriver Center on Poverty Law

Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministries of Illinois

University Church

Uptown People’s Law Center

Women’s Justice Institute