in the news

IPP's Policy and Communications Director Marshan Allen explains why allowing those incarcerated in prisons to vote aids in a successful return to their communities.

IPP's executive director Jenny Soble talks to WTTW about Beto Zavala, whose clemency petition is one of hundreds awaiting response from Gov. Pritzker. Despite the backlog, Pritzker has only granted six clemencies this year.

Philip Merritt was diagnosed with dementia while incarcerated, and was unable to get the care and support he needed. With help from IPP attorney Maria Burnett, Philip was released under the Joe Coleman Medical Release Act and now receives full-time care from his brother Michael.

IPP's Founder and Executive Director Jennifer Soble explains how once a person is imprisoned, indigent defense stops. But the gravity of mass incarceration demands legal representation to the very end.

IPP client Timothy Jones – under the “felony murder” rule – received a 28-year sentence at age 22 for a death caused by a police officer. The felony murder rule has been criticized for punishing people for conduct they did not directly commit, and overwhelmingly targeting people of color; it has been outlawed in most countries outside the U.S.

Survivors of domestic and sexualized violence are particularly vulnerable to prosecution under “accomplice liability” laws; they are charged for supporting, taking part in, or failing to stop a crime by their abusers. Rachel White-Domain, director of IPP's Women and Survivors Project, explains why these cases don't get the attention they deserve.