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)