Hey I'm a part of @ParoleIllinois and I wanted to share a story from our public meeting Sunday that I think shows why it's a strong campaign and a positive community.

Sunday's meeting was the first PI activity for a lot of people. It had an intro to the campaign's story, the Earned Discretionary Release bill #SB3233, and breakout groups to brainstorm action.

"T" joined from Antioch, IL. She said her brother, who is incarcerated, had been calling her all week to attend the meeting.

She and our downstate area organizer Ronnie started talking.

Ronnie did over 30 years in IDOC, and it turned out he and T's brother caught cases in the same town in Lake County. Lake County is a suburban area and they talked about it's reputation for lengthy sentences.

We were in a working group discussing legislation and lobbying. That group has volunteer leaders who are CPS high school students! They showed us how to look up our statehouse members online.

"This is the most important thing to do for the campaign right now--call these representatives and senators and tell them to support #SB3233: Earned Discretionary Release."

EDR means a chance to make your case for release for everyone, regardless of your original sentence!

Our organizer Brian called on people. "T, are you ready to call your legislators and tell them to support this bill? Do you know your representatives, have you called them before?"

"You know, I never have, and to be honest it's not something I ever saw myself doing. But if that's what it takes, I'm ready!"

This is what PI's grassroots fight is about. We mobilize those directly affected by Illinois's broken system. We have leaders inside IDOC, their loved ones, formerly incarcerated people, and allies coming together, sharing knowledge and community, strategizing, and making change.