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The Illinois Supreme Court declared the legislation ending cash
bail constitutional. Beginning on Sept. 18, 2023, Illinois
courts no longer used a cash bail system. Instead, they use a
“pretrial release” system as allowed by the Pretrial Fairness
Act found in the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and
Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act approved in early 2021.
The Federalist Society hosted a discussion with legal experts on
an update around bail reform after nine months.
David Olson from the Criminal Justice Department at Loyola
University said no cash bail looks different around the state.
“This is a statewide law but every jurisdiction is implementing
things a little bit differently and this is some of the stuff we
are seeing early on with the research,” Olson said.
DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said violent
criminals are being held, but many other perpetrators go free.
“Where I believe we are seeing some deficiencies are crimes like
burglary, retail theft, possession of a stolen motor vehicle,
these offenses, for the most part, judges can only detain if the
defendant is a willful risk of flight, and that is a difficult
standard to prove,” Berlin said.
In DuPage County, Berlin said about a third of all their
petitions for detention are domestic batteries or violations of
orders of protection, and only 34% of those are held behind bars
pending a court appearance, a number he calls low.
Law enforcement agencies have opposed nearly every aspect of the
SAFE-T Act, including no cash bail. Some, including the Illinois
Sheriffs' Association, have expressed frustration by the lack of
consistency on what is detainable.
Since the Pretrial Fairness Act went into effect, a report
indicates that appellate courts have been inundated with appeals
cases. The Pretrial Release Task Force that was created by the
Illinois Supreme Court called the increase “staggering.”
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