Earlier this year, the ISBA Steering Committee on Racial Inequality had the opportunity to collaborate with State Sen. Elgie R. Sims Jr. (D-Chicago) and to discuss the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus’s effort on the then-Criminal Justice, Violence Reduction and Police Accountability bill. In the December Illinois Bar Journal, authors of the column The Resolution, written by the cochairs of the ISBA Steering Committee on Racial Inequality, spoke with Sen. Sims to revisit progress made since the bill was passed and ongoing efforts to reform criminal justice policies in Illinois. 

For example, Sen. Sims says society has too often criminalized poverty and thanks the ISBA for supporting his work to end the criminalization of poverty. “I have to thank the Illinois State Bar Association for being a tremendous partner in this work, going back to the Bail Reform Act of 2017 where we were trying to distinguish between violent offenders and nonviolent offenders,” Sen. Sims says. Read on for the full the discussion.

Read the article Toward a More Just Illinois in the December issue of the Illinois Bar Journal.