Pontiac area lawmakers disappointed with Supreme Court ruling on cash bail

In 2021, the Illinois General Assembly pushed through the SAFE-T Act on the final day of the lame duck session. Part of the legislation included the allowance of no-cash bail.

On July 18, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the SAFE-T Act and its no-cash bail provision.

Pontiac-area lawmakers have since expressed their joint disappointment in the court's ruling.

“Eliminating cash bail without providing judges with broad discretion to hold dangerous individuals pre-trial will decrease public safety and make it harder for law enforcement to keep violent criminals off the streets and out of our communities," said State Sen. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, said in statement. “We have already seen police officers and sheriffs leave to find new careers because of the SAFE-T Act. With the ruling today, I fear it will be harder to find individuals to fill those positions and keep our communities safe.”

Bennett represents the state senate's 53rd District, which covers all or parts of Bureau, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, LaSalle, Livingston, Marshall, McLean, Peoria, Putnam, Tazewell, Will, and Woodford Counties.

State Rep. Jason Bunting, R-Emington, is in agreement.

“The law is so bad that a majority of the state’s attorneys in Illinois, Republicans and Democrats alike, sued to stop it from going into effect” Bunting said in a news release. “After initially defending the law, Democrats have spent much of the past two years making changes to it. But even with the changes, the new law still puts criminals ahead of victims and makes Illinois less safe."

“Illinoisans should be able to count on having safe communities in which to live and work. Instead this law prioritizes criminals over families and the police officers we trust to keep us safe."

Bunting's 106th Illinois House District represents Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, LaSalle, Livingston, McLean and Will Counties.

Illinois became the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail as a condition of pretrial release when the state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionally of the law abolishing it.

The 5-2 ruling overturns a Kankakee County judge’s opinion in December that the law violated the constitution’s provision that “all persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties.” Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis, writing for the majority, decreed that the law honors the constitution’s balance between the rights of victims and defendants.

When the Supreme Court received the direct appeal from the local court, it stopped the scheduled Jan. 1, 2023 implementation of the law. Theis ordered that it take effect in 60 days, on Sept. 18.

Proponents of eliminating cash bail describe it as a penalty on poverty, suggesting that the wealthy can pay their way out of jail to await trial while those in economic distress — particularly people of color — have to sit it out behind bars. A pandemic-era increase in crime spurred debates on bail reforms.

Critics have argued that bail is a time-honored way to ensure defendants released from jail show up for court proceedings. They warn that violent criminals will be released pending trial, giving them license to commit other crimes.

“It was rammed through in spite of serious objections from law enforcement and others who were concerned that it would make Illinois less safe,” Bunting noted in his release. “Eliminating cash bail makes it much easier for those arrested for crimes to be quickly released back out onto the streets.

“Illinois has one of the highest murder rates in the country, and criminals have been so emboldened in recent years that they commit violent crimes in broad daylight. “Police have been demonized and undermined to the point that it is getting harder and harder for departments around the state to attract and retain the number of police officers they need to protect the public.”

“Many counties have expressed concern over the negative impact the law will have on the safety of its residents, as well as the financial impact eliminating cash bail will have on local government budgets,” Bennett said in his release.

Bennett said those costs will likely be made up by an increase in property taxes, a decrease in government services, or both.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Pontiac area lawmakers disappointed with high court's cash bail ruling