To: The Illinois State House and The Illinois State Senate
Oppose SB1342: Mandatory Minimums Will Not Make Our Communities Safer
We urge you to oppose S.B. 1342 because mandatory minimum jail sentence laws like this are racially biased and harmful to Black communities, and will increase the number of Black people in prison in Illinois. This bill further criminalizes Black people at the expense of holding illicit gun sellers accountable.
Decades of research demonstrate that mandatory minimum laws like this do not decrease gun violence or make our communities safer. Our tax dollars should spent on things that make our communities safer like schools, jobs, and violence prevention services instead of imprisoning more black people.
Why is this important?
BYP100 Chicago is a local Chapter of the Black Youth Project 100, a collective of 18-35 year old Black activists dedicated to achieving freedom and justice for all Black people.
We are joining the efforts of Project Nia and Decarcerate Illinois and urging all Illinois residents to call on our State Legislature to oppose SB1342. SB1342 is a policy that criminalizes Black bodies as the source of gun violence in our communities. It does so at the expense of holding gun manufactures and sellers accountable. It will lead to more Black people incarcerated and not get at the root cause of violence within our communities, which is lack of social, economic and political resources.