On Jan. 1, 2023, an Illinois criminal justice reform law will eliminate the cash bail system for almost all criminal charges..The Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity-Today Act (SAFE-T Act) eliminates cash bail for second-degree murder, aggravated battery, arson, drug-induced homicide, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, intimidation, aggravated driving under the influence, aggravated fleeing and eluding, drug offences, threatening a public official, and other lesser offences..The accused will be released back into the community without a bail hearing.. Illinois non-detainable offences .Sheriffs, State Attorneys, and law enforcement agencies have warned the public beginning January 1, most criminal defendants will not be behind bars awaiting trial and there are “disastrous consequences for the entire state.”.“Anyone sitting in jail right now with all these pending charges, they’re going to be let out,” said Johnson County Sheriff Peter Sopczak. .“The gates are open and they’re going to be let out onto the streets.”.“Even though aggravated battery is a violent offence that is a forcible felony, a person can get probation for it,” said Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Reitz to WICS News..“It’s not a detainable offence under the new statute.”.“Approximately 400 criminal defendants will be released back into your community (Winnebago County),” said Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley..This past week in Chicago, at least 28 people were shot and seven killed, including innocent bystanders such as a man, 91, a girl, 14, shot in the face, three men killed on public transit, and a man on a scooter shot dead..The Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA), which abolishes cash bail, is part of the SAFE-T Act, introduced by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus..The purpose of the PFA is to free alleged criminal offenders, who cannot afford the bail bond, back into the community without having to wait in jail until their court date..Democratic Governor JB Pritzker signed the bill into law in February and said it made the pretrial bond system fair for all economic backgrounds..“Transforming the pretrial detention system so low-income people aren’t thrown behind bars while only the wealthy walk free, diverting low-level drug crimes into substance-treatment programs and reducing excessive stays in prison,” said Pritzker..Illinois Republicans want parts of the SAFE-T Act repealed and stricter sentencing for violent offenders.. Prison cell .Republican Gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey promised to repeal the SAFE-T Act when he met with the Illinois Sheriffs if he is elected..Supporters of abolishing cash bail, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said it is “institutional racism within the criminal justice system.”.“That’s just inequitable that some people get to be free because they have money and other people have to remain incarcerated, which has all kinds of terrible consequences for people’s ability to work, for their housing, their whole families suffer,” said Ben Ruddell, ACLU of Illinois, to WLS News Radio..Judges still have pre-trial release conditions but no financial requirement for offenders..It prohibits judges from “considering each case on its own merits and applying the law accordingly,” said Hanley..First-degree murder still requires the suspect to stay in jail until their court hearing and domestic violence offenders would be detained for 24 to 48 hours depending on the danger to the partner attacked..“Imagine the defendant who murdered his wife, to whom he no longer poses a threat, being released because of this ridiculously limited legal standard,” said Hanley..“Judges may no longer issue a warrant when a defendant fails to come to court. Instead, an absent defendant must next be served with a court order asking them to appear and then fail to appear a second time before a warrant may be issued.”.Illinois is the first state to abolish cash bail.
