(The Center Square) – With the end of cash bail now law in Illinois, the back and forth over how it affects victims of crime continues.
The state’s Pretrial Fairness Act is the first in the nation to end money bond statewide. Advocates say people are innocent until proven guilty and shouldn’t have to languish behind bars pending trial because they can’t afford to bail out.
State Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, said the end of cash bail will hurt victims of crimes.
“It’s absolutely not fair to the victims of crime,” Bryant said. “From restitution payments to victims services, bonds and fees often contribute to vital services to help victims recover from their trauma.”
ACLU of Illinois’ Ben Ruddell said nothing in the Pretrial Fairness Act takes away the responsibility of someone convicted of a crime to pay restitution that’s been ordered by a court.
“We don’t take it out of their pocket on the front end, though, when they’ve been just accused of a crime,” Ruddell said. “We wait until they’ve been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, which is how it ought to work.”
First-time criminal defendants facing lower-level non-violent criminal charges will be processed and released from jail. Those facing more serious charges could be held pretrial without money bond.
Ruddell foresees one problem that could arise as the law gets implemented statewide being the availability of public defenders.
“That’s an ongoing issue irrespective of the Pretrial Fairness Act,” Ruddell said. “That’s a thing that this state needs to tackle, but if you ask me where I see the most potential for issues, it’s there.”
While Democrats overwhelmingly supported the measure in the state Legislature, Republicans opposed. Bryant said the minority party will continue to push for reforms.
“To me and many of the people we represent, defunding our courts, limiting victims services and making law abiding citizens pay for criminals bail with their taxes is just not justice,” Bryant said.
The measure was supposed to go into effect Jan. 1, but was delayed because of court challenges until two months ago the measure was upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court.
