SPRINGFIELD, IL – A bill that was signed by Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker back in January of 2021 is now starting to make waves 18 months after the fact, namely because a facet of the bill entirely eliminating cash bail is slated to go into effect in the coming months. Critics are rightfully concerned regarding the potential fallout.
On January 22nd of, 2021, Governor Pritzker signed into law the Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity-Today Act, coined as the SAFE-T Act. At the time of the bill being signed, there wasn’t too much media attention given to the law as the nation’s attention was ostensibly hyper-focused on the January 6 debacle since the matter was just over two weeks removed at that point.
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According to an overview of the SAFE-T Act drafted by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority in July of 2021, the summary of the law was described as, “incorporating many aspects of the criminal justice system and crime victim support. The Act covers three areas of criminal justice reform —policing, pretrial, and corrections (jails and prisons).”
The “policing” and “corrections” parts of the law likely need little to no explanation, as both facets pertaining to revisions surrounding standards of conduct and reporting priorities (with the “policing” portion mirroring much of the reforms seen adopted post-George Floyd with regards to use-of-force).
But the “pretrial” tidbit is now causing quite the stir despite this law having been signed in January of 2021 because come January of 2023, cash bail will be completely eliminated from the equation when a suspected offender is arrested.
In a report from Capitol News Illinois from this past May, the cash bail elimination portion of the SAFE-T Act was described as “One of the more controversial provisions of the bill,” noting that cash bail will be replaced “with a system that will prioritize the severity of an offense, the risk of not appearing for court and the threat and danger the individual poses to another person or the community if they were to be released.”
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In short, a judge will have to determine whether someone is simply held pending the outcome of a trial or not based on certain factors of a case, but this can potentially result in suspects charged with serious offenses – including murder cases – simply being let go.
Democratic Illinois Rep. Justin Slaughter is one of the key individuals who got the SAFE-T Act pushed through, claiming that cash bail bears an “adverse impact on those that don’t have the money,” asserting this act will benefit non-violent offenders rather than ones accused of violent offenses.
But people simply aren’t convinced this is the case, including Democrat James Glasgow, a state’s attorney out of Will County. Glasgow pointed to the SAFE-T Act’s portion that notes all defendants “shall be presumed eligible” for release unless prosecutors can present “clear and convincing” evidence to their argument of keeping a suspect in custody.
This “clear and convincing” evidence would have to include the likes of strong evidence the suspect committed the offense while also posing a physical threat to a “specific, identifiable” person – and these arguments would have to go before a judge within 48 hours of a suspect’s arrest.
From a logistical perspective, Glasgow claimed this feat is nearly impossible with only a 48-hour timeline since more complex cases may include the likes of bodycam or surveillance cam footage that would need to be reviewed by a prosecutor.
When summarizing his overall sentiments on the matter, Glasgow stated, “I’m not against no bail for nonviolent crimes. But when it’s protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the law-abiding citizens, we have to be able to do that.”
Illinois Is Going To Become A Lot More Dangerous Once This Bill Takes Effect
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