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Illinois will be the first state in the country to abolish cash
bail on Jan. 1. The 700-page bill not only eliminates cash bail,
but increases police oversight and limits a judge's discretion
on who they can hold in custody.
During a news conference in Decatur Tuesday called by the
Illinois Freedom Caucus, Macon County State's attorney Scott
Rueter said the law essentially ties the hands of judges.
“What the law does is it takes a lot of discretion away from
judges, and that’s the problem,” Rueter said. “Those are the
folks that should be having the discretion to do what's best for
a community.”
The Illinois Supreme Court has consolidated 58 county lawsuits
challenging the legality of the SAFE-T Act into one. It will be
heard in Kankakee County.
Proponents have argued that the SAFE-T Act will combat systemic
racism and make the criminal justice system more equitable.
“The Constitution protects the presumption of innocence,” said
David Cannon of West Suburban Democratic Socialists of America.
“Now these prosecutors don’t even want people to be able to
defend themselves.”
The law also implements a higher standard on when a defendant
can be detained for some crimes, including second-degree murder
and arson.
“There is a certain level of frustration I’m sure that is going
to be encountered when seeing people who are a danger to the
community that are going to get out as a result of this,” said
Rueter.
Lawmakers are set to return to Springfield for veto session the
week after the Nov. 8 election where they could amend the law.
“There are things in this bill that can work, but there are
things in this bill that don’t work, and I don’t believe there's
any way to amend this bill to make it workable,” said state Rep.
Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur.
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in
Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of
experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.
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