SAFE-T Act, Pretrial Fairness Act Receives Praise One Year After Implementation
SPRINGFIELD, Il. – One year after Illinois lead the nation in ending cash bail, judges and other officials tracking the law’s data say that it’s making communities safer. The law, which aims to make the criminal justice system fairer and more equitable, no longer allows offenders to buy their way out of jail regardless of the crimes they’re accused of committing. The SAFE-T Act allows judges the ability to hold people based on the risk they pose to the community.
In a recent interview with St. Louis Public Radio, St. Clair’s Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson said the new law is keeping the Metro East safer.
“Those who perhaps were dangerous had the ability to bond out – if they had enough money – and many people did,” Judge Gleeson said to STLPR’s Will Bauer. “They actually got to be on the streets making our community less safe.”
Leading up to the 2022 statewide elections in Illinois, Republican officials and their allies used right-wing political mailers disguised as newspapers intended to mislead voters and spread falsehoods about the end of cash bail. The well-funded disinformation campaign designed to influence the election claimed law enforcement would not be able to detain offenders and communities would suffer.
Judge Gleeson rightfully points out that “the idea that we are assessing that level of danger to the community at large and or to any individual person before we allow someone to be out on bail is, I think, the counterargument. We’re safer under this present system.”
“And then, probably just as important, is now we are upholding our obligations to the Constitution of the United States and the rights of us as individual citizens in this country. We are deemed to be innocent until proven guilty. Bond is only set to make sure that you appear in court. So, when we talk about these things, we're talking about somebody who has not been adjudicated guilty in a court of law yet. So, the assessment of how dangerous they are to us — and whether they're going to reappear for court — is what we should have probably been doing all along.”
To listen to the full interview, visit STLPR.org.
David Olsen, a co-director of the Center for Criminal Justice at Loyola University in Chicago, also spoke with Capitol News Illinois. He pointed out the law has not resulted in an increase in crime and that money, which used to go towards bail, is now staying in the community.
“Prior to the law going into effect, statewide about $140 million each year was paid by defendants in the form of posting money to secure their pretrial release. No longer are they posting money to secure their pretrial release. So, $140 million is now remaining in the community,” Olsen said.
To read the full interview, visit capitolnewsillinois.com.
Speaker Welch Receives Illinois Humane Society Top Rating
Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s voting record for the 2024 legislative session earned him the highest rating from Illinois Humane Society.
House Bill 4446, which prohibits private possession of certain dangerous animals, and House Bill 2900, which prohibits wildlife killing contests in Illinois, were the two pieces of legislation important to the Humane Society. Speaker Welch voted to pass both out of the House chamber.