SAFE-T Act Passes Final Legal Test in Illinois
Cash bail is about to become a thing of the past in Illinois, but not everyone is optimistic about the future.
“SAFE-T Act provision ending cash bail constitutional, Illinois Supreme Court rules,” reported Michelle Gallardo for ABC7 News on July 18, 2023. “The landmark decision paves the way for Illinois to become the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail.”
And with that, Illinois broke brand new ground in a controversial criminal justice reform effort. The Illinois Supreme Court challenge was the last hurdle.
“The reality is simple,” as Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx explains it. “People charged with violent offenses should not be able to pay their way out of jail, and people who are charged with non-violent offenses who are not a threat to the public shouldn’t be criminalized for being poor.”
“I’m pleased that the Illinois Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the SAFE-T Act and the elimination of cash bail,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said in a statement. “We can now move forward with historic reform to ensure pre-trial detainment is determined by the danger individual poses to the community instead of by their ability to pay their way out of jail.”
“Cash bail does not make communities safer, and it never has; it has simply…