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According to the Chicago Sun-Times, from Jan. 1, 2022 until May 1,
129 people in Cook County have been arrested while on such passes,
which allow criminal defendants being held on home detention while
awaiting trial 48 hours to leave home to tend to such matters as
going shopping, doing laundry and taking care of other pressing
issues.
Of the 129 individuals who found themselves facing additional
charges that were filed over that time, 29 were charged with
gun-related crimes, mostly for illegal possession of a firearm.
“I’m wildly opposed to this, and I’m going to try and do everything
I can to stop it,” Dart told Fox 32, adding that other cases also
centered on violence, with an armed robbery, a kidnapping, a
carjacking and pointing a gun at an off-duty Chicago police officer
all among them.
The "essential movement" policy, which Dart refers to as “free
movement,” is mandated under the Illinois’ Pre-Trial Fairness Act,
though the law is now facing a legal challenge on the grounds it
violates the constitution based on another provision that outlaws
the cash bail system.
Dart said he doesn’t expect legislators to move to change the law
until after the Supreme Court has rendered a verdict in that case.
As it is, the Cook County public defender’s office has vowed to do
everything it can to keep the practice in place.
“We would oppose repealing the provisions of the Pre-Trial Fairness
Act,” Sharlyn Grace, senior policy adviser to Cook County Public
Defender Sharone Mitchell, told Fox 32.
In the month before essential movement went into effect, Dart said
most people on electronic monitoring in Cook County who asked to
leave home for a specific reason were allowed to do so. In all, he
said such requests were approved in 73% of the instances where it
was requested, with the reasons ranging from regularly scheduled
doctor appointments, job interviews and laundry runs.
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