Yesterday, a circuit court judge in Kankakee struck down parts of the SAFE-T Act, especially sections designed to end money bond in Illinois in just a few short days.
The following can be attributed to Benjamin Ruddell, Director of Criminal Justice Reform at the ACLU of Illinois:
Despite this ruling, the good news is that the money bond system in Illinois’ most populous counties ends on January 1, 2023. This means that while this decision is appealed, many people across the state no longer will be held in jail before trial simply because they lack access to resources necessary to meet a money bond.
While we disagree with the court’s findings on the money bond issue, it is heartening to see that the court swept aside a series of process arguments that largely ignored the years of work that went into drafting, debating and adopting the SAFE-T Act.
Further, we are encouraged that the Attorney General clearly indicated an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court is forthcoming. We are confident that money bond ultimately will be eliminated across the entire state.
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