Kankakee Times

The Illinois State Supreme Court issued a decision regarding the legality of Illinois' move to end cash bail on July 18. In a Facebook post, Rep. Jackie Haas shared her reaction to the decision.

"Less than two hours before we began an entirely new General Assembly, Illinois Democrats rammed through one of the worst criminal justice reform packages that was promptly signed into law by the Governor. Even Democratic State’s Attorneys sued because of mounting public safety concerns introduced because of this act. Yet today, the Illinois Supreme Court has declared this constitutional, despite the facts that Illinois has one of the highest murder rates in the country, costs have risen for taxpayers, and our police forces are demoralized. This is a deeply upsetting day for our state and communities," said Rep Jackie Haas, in her Facebook post.

In her Facebook post, Rep. Haas shared a link to a press release with her statement, and the reaction of Kankakee County State's Attorney Jim Rowe. 

He said: "A few moments ago the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the Safe-T Act is constitutional and will take effect on September 18, 2023. While this ruling is disappointing and the Act terribly detrimental to public safety, we must abide by the decision and will continue to do our best to serve the people of Kankakee County. “Despite the defeat, I could not be more proud of all who fought the good fight. The people of Illinois deserve better than bail reform that is passed under cover of darkness at 4 a.m. when all the state was sleeping; they deserve to have a voice in any constitutional amendments through the power of their vote; and they deserve to be governed by a government of, for and by the people—not by legislative or gubernatorial fiat."

The State Supreme Court overturned a previous ruling issued in December 2022 that called the SAFE-T Act unconstitutional. The July 18 decision said: “The Illinois Constitution of 1970 does not mandate that monetary bail is the only means to ensure criminal defendants appear for trials or the only means to protect the public. Our constitution creates a balance between the individual rights of defendants and the individual rights of crime victims. The Act’s pretrial release provisions set forth procedures commensurate with that balance. For the reasons that we have stated, we reverse the circuit court’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs." Justice Mary Jane Theis wrote this ruling.

The end of cash bail has been the most controversial part of the law, which was signed in 2022. Almost immediately after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the legislation, legislators, law enforcement and others spoke against the elimination of cash bail for a variety of offenses. ABC7 reported that the no-cash bail provision will go into effect on Sept. 18, 2023.