Rainbow PUSH Leaders Press For Release Of Nonviolent Offenders

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The leaders of Rainbow PUSH are joining forces with faith leaders from several states, including Illinois. They have created a criminal justice reform initiative to protect inmates from COVID-19. Saturday they explained why they are calling for the release of pretrial detainees and nonviolent inmates.

"We are advocating for a review and a use of personal recognizance, home monitoring, community release, and the use of parole and probation amongst other tools to help ensure that those persons who do not need to be in jail in the middle of a pandemic are able to be released, appropriately monitored until the resolution of any pending litigation," one organization leader said.

Rainbow PUSH leaders say there has been at least one inmate death from the coronavirus in Maryland, Alabama, Florida and Illinois.