The CFIST Campaign
The Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture (CFIST) is a group of survivors, family members, and advocates of justice, concerned for the well-being and dignity of those who have suffered at the hands of the criminal legal system.
We seek to free all survivors of police torture and wrongful conviction, and to ensure their health, support, and success upon release. We work towards the vision of a humane, bottom-up, community focused transformative justice system, within which police are held accountable for their human rights violations.
Our values of collective liberation, healing, and community guide our work, through which we contribute to dismantling white supremacy and the destruction it has caused in our society, particularly in the case of mass incarceration. We seek to continue the legacy of our ancestors and freedom fighters before us in this work towards justice and liberation until we are all free.
OUR IMMEDIATE DEMANDS ARE:
1.
That the Governor immediately grant pardons for all those whose cases
have been deemed credible cases of torture by the governor-appointed
Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission (TIRC).
2.
That the State’s Attorney immediately move to vacate convictions for all those
framed, tortured and wrongfully convicted, particularly cases involving
detectives where an established pattern of torture, forced confession and
wrongful convictions holds, as clearly outlined in our comprehensive report.
Why Pressure the Governor
Governor Pritzker has the power to right this wrong with the stroke of a pen and use his executive authority to release those who have been wrongfully convicted due to police torture. Governor Pritzker, the people of Illinois call on you to use your power and pardon all police torture survivors now, before it's too late!
Who Supports Us
Our campaign has the support of a wide range of individuals and organizations throughout Chicago and beyond.
Below is an incomplete and growing list:
Arab American Action Network
Black Lives Matter, Chicago
Chicago Metropolitan Association, Illinois Conference, United Church of Christ
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America
Chicago Torture Justice Center
Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine
Jewish Voice for Peace
Innocent Demand Justice
Rev. Julian DeShazier, Senior Pastor University Church, Chicago
Equity and Transformation, Chicago
Interfaith Action Group on Peace and Justice in Israel
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
Alice Kim, Director of Human Rights Practice,
Pozen Family Center, University of Chicago
Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition and Solidarity
Rev. Dr. Aaron J. McLeod, Esq., Pastor,
Gorham United Methodist Church
Rev. Dr. Waltrina N. Middleton, Executive Director,
Community Renewal Society
Rev. James Moody, Pastor, Quinn Chapel, Chicago
Rev. Otis Moss, III, Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ
Dian Palmer, President, SEIU L 73
Parole Illinois
Aislinn, Pulley, Co-Executive Director of the
Chicago Torture Justice Center, Black Live Matter Chicago
Bill Ryan, Pathway to Community
Service Employees International Union Local 73
US Palestinian Community Network
Uptown Peoples Law Center, Alan Mills, Executive Director
Rob Warden, Co-founder, Injustice Watch, Executive Director Emeritus of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Tanya Watkins, Executive Director,
Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL)