Kankakee Times

Kankakee County State's Attorney Jim Rowe is celebrating a legal victory after a Kankakee County judge ruled the Safe-T Act unconstitutional.

"Today's ruling affirms that we are still a government of the people, and that the Constitutional protections afforded to the citizens of Illinois – most importantly the right to exercise our voice with our vote – are inalienable,” Rowe said on Facebook after the ruling. 

“The Act was a 765-page bill passed during a lame duck session under cover of darkness at 4:00 a.m., affording legislators less than one hour to read it and vote on it, and denying the general public any opportunity to offer comment or input. It amended the State Constitution and eroded the constitutional protections of the Victim Rights Act, all while disenfranchising the people of their Constitutional right to vote on such reforms. The people of Illinois deserve better than that, and today's verdict condemns the Act for exactly what it is: unconstitutional.”

Rowe, a Democrat, was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit that ultimately included 58 of Illinois’ state’s attorneys. Rowe noted the concepts embedded in the Safe-T Act which will disallow the detainment of most criminals undermines basic constitutional principles set up to ensure the proper functioning of the criminal justice system. 

“This lawsuit should not be necessary,” Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe said previously, adding that “I surely believe that freedom should not hinge upon one’s ability to pay a bond and that the criminal justice system is in dire need of reform, including bail and beyond. However, regardless of whether you agree with or reject the many reforms of the Safe-T Act, or even how we may each interpret them, one thing is certain: you cannot amend the Illinois Constitution without a referendum or Constitutional Convention (Illinois Constitution, Article XIV).”

Kankakee Sheriff Mike Downey backed Rowe’s efforts. 

“From the day HB3653 was signed into law, law enforcement sounded the alarm about how dangerous this legislation would be to law-abiding citizens throughout Illinois. Unfortunately, that alarm has fallen upon deaf ears in Springfield.  This lawsuit aims to correct these concerns and to simply ensure the process is done in the light of day and in accordance with the Illinois Constitution,” Downey said in a press release when the lawsuit was announced. 

“The Safe-T Act has effectively amended this section of the Illinois Constitution without a referendum vote of the people.  The Legislature does not have that power.  This lawsuit and the Illinois Constitution beg our legislators to do what is right and follow the process: give the people their right to vote,” said Rowe. 

“It gives this Office no joy to file this lawsuit and I do so with some trepidation, well aware of how it may be responded to by those in powerful positions; just know that we welcome criminal justice reform done properly at the will of the people, and we pray that can still be accomplished.”

100 of the 102 state’s attorneys in Illinois are in favor of repealing or amending the act. One of the two outliers is Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx under whose tenure violent crime and property crime have skyrocketed.