Galesburg Reporter

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed policies that ended Illinois Judges’ ability to set cash bails before a defendant’s first court appearance, negatively grabbing Republican attention.

“This article explains why I, along with so many law enforcement members, are so opposed and seek major changes to the bill (before) its taking effect,” Sen. Jil Tracy wrote on Facebook.

Tracy’s cry isn’t unique. Many elected officials create legislation, such as Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, that is wildly unpopular.

In her Facebook post, Tracy shared a link to Capitol News Illinois. The article notes that “Republicans and state’s attorneys have continued to fight for changes to the law, up to a full repeal, arguing that while the intent may be to empower judges to detain more dangerous individuals, the bill as written is too limiting.”

For example, NPR reported Gov. Abbott’s harsh abortion ban — without exceptions for rape and incest — a study found that 60% of research participants of Texas voters support abortions.

“We’ve known that politicians in Texas and across the country have been enacting harmful abortion bans. We’ve known that they’ve been out of step with what Texans want, and now we have the data to prove that,” Carisa Lopez, senior political director for the Texas Freedom Network, one of several reproductive rights groups that commissioned the poll, said to NPR.

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority shared a document that explained the Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, including the elimination of cash bail, changes to use of force, and other elements.

While cash bail is under fire by Republicans, ACLU noted misinformation regarding it. ACLU called out lawmakers and news outlets for framing that ending cash bail will cause a “crime wave.”

“Cash bail doesn’t lower homicide rates,” ACLU explained. “Most places in the country still rely heavily on cash bail, including places that led the pack in increasing homicide rates. The few places that have reduced reliance on cash bail did so for years before 2020 without an increase in crime, including homicide.”

Kankakee and Will County State's Attorneys filed separate lawsuits focusing on the SAFE-T Act and the elimination of cash bail this month.

“The false narrative that bail reform increases crime is also borne of poor reporting on what ‘bail reform’ actually means,” ACLU explained further. “Bail reform policies ensure that judges appoint a defense lawyer, hold a bail hearing, and jail people only if evidence shows that it’s necessary. The idea is that judges should have good reasons to detain people, rather than picking a bail amount and leaving it to chance whether people can afford to pay for their release.”

Regarding the violence in Illinois, inmates are feeling the aggression of correctional officers. The situation in Illinois prisons revealed by investigations by the Illinois Department of Corrections showed correctional officers abused the inmates. The Marshall Project and Illinois Public Radio reported inmates in the U.S. penitentiary in Thomson would get a “Thomson tattoo” because officers forced them to wear shackles that scarred wrists, ankles and abdomens.