(The Center Square) – John Howard Association Executive Director Jennifer Vollen-Katz is calling for major changes within the criminal justice system as data show Blacks now make up more than half of all prison inmates despite accounting for just 14% of the state’s overall population.
Data from Prison Policy Initiative show 53% of Illinois’ prison population in 2021 were Black.
“I think we have a huge problem,” Vollen-Katz told The Center Square. “I think we need to focus not just on the deep end of the system, the prison system, because the prison system doesn’t dictate who gets sent into prison. I think when we talk about these gross disparities and the disproportionate minority contact, what we have to look at is racism throughout the entire system.”
The 2021 data shows 51% of the state’s jail population was Black while only making up 14% of the state’s overall population.
“Racism doesn’t start in prison,” Vollen-Katz said. “It starts much further back in our system, and we need to look at our communities, opportunities and investments in different communities.”
While Black individuals made up 53% of Illinois prisons and 51% of jails, white individuals, which make up 60% of the state’s overall population, make up 31% of prisons and 34% of jails.
In conducting their research, Vollen-Katz said staffers from the nonpartisan prison watchdog group talked to IDOC workers and administrators as well as inmates and are ultimately hoping to increase public awareness about the issue.
“I think we need change on all fronts,” Vollen-Katz said. “I think that it starts with perceptions and investing in communities that have not additionally been invested in and have suffered because of it. I think we need to look at all the systems that get impacted by the lack of equity in our communities and begin to address the policies that drive racist outcomes in a variety of different ways.”
Vollen-Katz adds it’s going to take advocates working in the areas of policy, investment and community to bring about the level of change that’s truly needed.
“We don’t have a great track record in Illinois of responding to the issues we identify with,” she said. “I am hopeful that these conversations are going to lead to more concrete change. That change is critical and is needed immediately. At John Howard Association, we will continue raising awareness and seeking and pushing for solutions because we realize how critically important they are.”
