(The Center Square) – A case before the Illinois Supreme Court is putting a spotlight on the controversial SAFE-T Act and its pretrial release conditions.
Aimee Stewart was arrested in a stolen vehicle but was released under terms of the Pretrial Fairness Act and its no-cash-bail provision. After she failed to appear in court eight times, a judge ordered her to be jailed. Now she is asking the state’s highest court to have her released.
“It’s not the role of judges to rebound policy considerations because they think missing court is more serious than the legislature does,” said Assistant Public Defender Rebecca Cohen.
Special Assistant Attorney General Alan Spellberg defended the judge’s actions Wednesday.
“When a judge is satisfied that the evidence shows that the defendant will not appear in court, regardless of the conditions, the judge has the inherent authority to deny pretrial release,” said Spellberg.
Illinois Republicans have been calling for changes in the SAFE-T Act, including state Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis.
“We have called for the restoration of cash bail,” Windhorst said during a news conference last week. “What I think is important is we need to make sure the net, the detention net, includes all offenses that are felony offenses if we’re gonna keep this system.”
They point to the death of Megan Bos of Antioch. Bos was reported missing on March 9, and her remains were discovered on April 10 inside a bleach-filed storage container in Waukegan. The suspect, who confessed to concealing her death for nearly two months, was released pending trial.
The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to rule on the Stewart case in the weeks ahead.
