Illinois Supreme Court won’t hear arguments on eliminating cash bail until March

CHICAGO – It received’t be till spring, on the earliest, earlier than the Illinois Supreme Courtroom guidelines on whether or not money bail might be eradicated throughout the state.

The courtroom has scheduled oral arguments for March on authorized challenges to the landmark felony justice reform. The schedule doesn’t give a date for the justices to situation a ruling.

Elimination of money bail was written into regulation because the Pretrial Equity Act, essentially the most controversial provision of the state’s extensively scrutinized and criticized SAFE-T Act. It was to enter impact Jan. 1 however a Kankakee County choose sided with authorities in 64 counties and located it unconstitutional on the finish of final month.

Chief Decide Thomas Cunnington wrote that “the appropriateness of bail rests with the authority of the courtroom and will not be decided by legislative fiat.”

Illinois Lawyer Basic Kwame Raoul instantly appealed to the Illinois Supreme Courtroom to overturn Cunnington’s resolution, which might solely have affected counties that introduced the go well with.

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Final Saturday, the Supreme Courtroom ordered that the bail regulation wouldn’t go into impact whereas it heard the enchantment. The justices have requested filings from all events this month and subsequent.

The bail reforms are only one a part of the SAFE-T Act, a wide-ranging set of felony justice reform measures signed right into a regulation final yr, a few of which have already taken impact.

Different measures embrace requiring all police departments to equip officers with body-worn cameras by 2025, increasing providers for victims of crimes and altering how people who find themselves incarcerated are counted for redistricting maps.

However eliminating money bail proved to be essentially the most controversial piece. If it had taken impact, the Pretrial Equity Act would have made Illinois the primary U.S. state to utterly get rid of money bail.

Beneath the reforms, judges would not be capable to set a financial bail that an individual charged with against the law may put up to be launched whereas their case was pending, a system that critics of money bail say is inherently unfair and a threat to public security.

Judges would proceed to be tasked with evaluating whether or not the defendant is a public risk or a flight threat and both organize them launched with situations specified by the courtroom or detained in jail.

Whereas supporters say it could make the justice system extra equitable, opponents declare it may go away extra harmful folks on the road.

All through this previous election season, Republicans pounced on the Democratic-written SAFE-T Act and bail abolition, aiming to color liberal opponents as delicate on crime.

In response to knowledge from different jurisdictions which have already largely eradicated money bail, defendants have continued to indicate up for his or her courtroom dates at a excessive charge and largely haven’t picked up new prices whereas on launch. Research additionally seem to indicate that the elimination of money bail doesn’t have a major impression on crime general.