Appeals court finds Central Illinois judge abused her discretion in pretrial detention ruling

SPRINGFIELD (25News Now) – An appeals court finds a Livingston County judge must abide by Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act even though she’s strongly opposed to ending the cash bond system for people awaiting trial.

Three justices on the Fourth District Appellate Court found that Brandin Atterberry, charged in Livingston County with indecent solicitation of a child and traveling to meet a child, is entitled to a second pretrial detention hearing applying the new law’s provisions.

In early October, Judge Jennifer Bauknecht ordered Atterberry jailed before his trial, claiming he’s a threat to Livingston County children and that the new law has taken away her authority to set bond in the case.

Bauknecht said she would have set a reasonable bond for Atterberry, which would have been a “very strong deterrent” for him not to engage in criminal behavior.

“And since I do not have that incentive because the legislature, governor and Illinois Supreme Court have taken that discretion away from me and because the Defendant meets the dangerousness standard by clear and convincing evidence, I am ordering that he be detained pending trial,” Bauknecht said.

Justices in a 14-page opinion found Bauknecht abused her discretion by detaining Atterberry because she couldn’t set a bond.

The appeals court criticized Bauknecht for giving “a lengthy and biased commentary about the wisdom of Illinois’s recent bail reform.”

“The wisdom of legislation is never a concern for the judiciary,” justices said.

“Instead, the trial court must determine, based on the specific facts of the case and the defendant’s individual background and characteristics, whether any combination of conditions can mitigate the threat and allow the defendant’s release,” the justices said.

“As judges, our role is not to choose the law but to faithfully apply it; that is, in fact, the sole object of our oath. Where a law is passed by the legislature and upheld by our supreme court as constitutional, the role of the judge is to apply the law as it is, not as the judge might wish it to be,” justices said.

Appellate Court Justice Kathryn Zenoff wrote the opinion, joined by Justices Thomas Harris and Eugene Doherty.

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