SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of a state law ending cash bail and ordered its implementation in mid-September.
The ruling overturns a Kankakee County judge’s opinion in December that the law violated a provision of the constitution that “All persons will be subject to bail for sufficient guarantees.”
Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis delivered the court’s opinion, approved 5-2, saying the constitution “does not require that money bail be the only means of ensuring that criminal defendants appear in court.” lawsuits or the only means to protect the public.”
The Democratic-dominated General Assembly approved the plan in January 2021 as part of a sweeping review of the state’s criminal justice system. known as the SAFE-T Act. It followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota the previous spring.
The Kankakee County judge’s ruling did not block implementation of the law, which takes effect on January 1, 2023. The ruling sent the issue directly to the Supreme Court, which halted its implementation and promised a speedy resolution.
The president ordered the paralysis of the law to be lifted 60 days after the ruling on Tuesday, September 18, 2023.
Proponents of the elimination of cash bail describe it as a punishment for poverty, suggesting that the wealthy can pay their way out of jail to await trial, while the financially strapped have to sit behind bars.
In the spring of 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court Pretrial Practice Commission strongly backed bail reform, noting that he found that a defendant who can’t post bail sees their life fall apart in a matter of days: loss of a job, loss of child custody, health problems without access to medication.
In addition, the commission found that it tends to generate bogus plea deals. Defendants reason that pleading guilty to a misdemeanor allows them an early release from jail.
Critics have argued that bail is a traditional way of ensuring defendants released from jail appear for court proceedings.
