On Monday morning, faith leaders gathered outside Cook County Jail to pray for the health and release of the 5,500 people incarcerated inside the jail. This prayer vigil comes on the heels of last week’s announcement from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office that a Deputy who had been working in the Cermak Hospital and Residential Treatment Unit has tested positive for COVID-19. “As people of faith, we understand that each life is sacred. Our faith calls us to advocate for the release of people incarcerated in the jail whose lives are at risk because of COVID-19. We are in an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action,” said Reverend Rachel Birkhahn-Rommelfanger, a pastor with the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church. An amicus brief was filed in support of the petition for mass release by many of the advocacy, legal, and community-based organizations that previously issued a list of demands directed at Cook County elected officials outlining policies to decrease the number of people in Cook County Jail in response to COVID-19 on March 13, 2020.