Illinois Justice Project
The Illinois Justice Project (ILJP) advances policies and practices that reduce violence, decrease prison recidivism and make the legal system more equitable.
38% of people released from the Illinois Department of Corrections return within 3 years – nearly four out of every ten people.
Investing in housing, jobs and supports for those returning from prison increases their opportunities and improves their quality of life and reduces recidivism.
Each person who returns to prison costs taxpayers $150,000—and close to another $40,000 for every year they spend in prison.
We work to develop meaningful, effective criminal legal system reforms that create opportunity and positive outcomes for youth, adults, and communities.
We seek to build a set of values that will create a criminal legal system true to the American promise of fairness and justice for all its people, regardless of race, class, or financial status.
We convene diverse groups of partners to identify pathways to reform and work to ensure those most directly impacted by the system advance the policy.
We believe hard work and collaboration will get us there.
Facts and data
At every step in the criminal legal system, for both youth and adults, people of color more likely to face a punitive outcome. Studies have shown Black Americans are 7 times more likely to be falsely convicted and they are incarcerated in state prisons at 5 times the rates of whites. While Black youth comprise less than 16 percent of the Illinois population, they represent 59% of admissions to detention centers.
Investments are key to addressing this disparity. Since 2021, $244 million in state grant money has been awarded to 300 organizations operating in Illinois communities that were damaged by the War on Drugs, many of them in neighborhoods that are majority Black. And intentional investments in community-based alternatives to incarceration avoided at least $51 million in prison costs in fiscal year 2023.
