‘The gates are open’: Illinois ending cash bail system “Violent crimes, burglary, robbery, arson, kidnapping, almost all drug offenses, DUI offenses, even DUI offenses involving a fatality, do not qualify for detention under the Illinois Safety Act,” Windhorst said. “That’s going to mean a lot of individuals are committing crimes and being released immediately, if not within a couple of days.”
The Sheriff is lying, trying to rile the white people and likely protect income streams, licit and illicit. Sheriff Sopczak, fewer suspects will end up going to jail. Only suspects involved in specific deadly incidents could be held. “We’re going to end up calling someone saying, ‘Can we arrest them?’ Just because of liability, if you take someone into custody and it doesn’t meet all the criteria, then you can get in trouble,” said Sopczak. He is conflating arrest and processing with detention until trial. Those are different stages. He is also being literally accurate but likely intentionally misleading in saying “fewer people will be going to jail”. The public will hear that as meaning that less people are imprisoned that would be in prison for violent crimes. But this policy has nothing to do with imprisonment. Jail is where you are held until trial. Prison is where you go after you are convicted and sentenced. Most people will not appreciate that verbal distinction and think that he is saying that less people are going to be actually in prison after sentencing. Sheriffs usually operate jails and get a budget to do so. There are also income streams from bail bondsman etc., and the related that will be interrupted. Reforms in this direction are long overdue. I don’t know the specifics on this one but the direction is solid, and arguably required by the Constitution
Should violent crimes get bail? I mean if it is about public safety. If you have been arrested 20 times for assaults vs once?
The law addresses that. That person would be detained in all likelihood. Always presume summaries from Sheriffs and prosecutors are false. Plus bail is not only about locking up someone. It’s about ensuring appearance at trial, and it’s a Constitutional right Amendment VIII Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Robert Martwick: Ending money bond won’t be the doomsday some are predicting Plus this just eliminates cash bail. It has nothing to do with perceived dangerousness, just ability to pay
Thanks tampa. Bail reform is another complex issue most Americans don't have a good grasp of. The ignorance is exasperated by politicians adding fear and emotion to the mix.
Our criminal justice system is such a mess (and in need of reform) at so many levels. No cash bail shouldn't apply to violent offenders. Get caught with a joint-fine. Charged with attempted murder or sexual assault-not fine. Like the poor soul shot on the NY subway for commuting to Sunday brunch a few weeks back. His perp had double digit priors and was still walking the street. Or the thug in Louisville this week who served 10 months before being released on an attempted murder charge. Some of this is just common sense.
Remember that in any large system with 1000s of transactions, there will invariably be instances in which someone that is out on a signature bond or something similar commits a crime they would not have committed if they were in detention. And if it happens often enough, we would have to re-calculate our decision making apparatus. But it’s not like there’s not another side to it. These are individuals who have only been charged, not convicted. Many times the lack of available bail is used to try to compel them to plea to a charge that they might otherwise not have done, believing they are innocent, because they don’t wanna wait months in jail awaiting trial. Pre-trial detention is used as a punishment in and of itself, which is wrong. Jobs and homes are lost in the interim. There are numerous documented examples of an abuse in the system as currently instituted as well as extreme situations, like that of Kalief Browder, an atrocity. This is something that usually only happens to other people, so it’s not something the public focuses on. But look how fired up a lot of the political discussion has gotten over the bail decisions for January 6 defendants. When it hits home to someone you can identify with, suddenly you see the justice considerations
Jessica Valenti in an abortion context points out some Alabama detention abuses with embedded links Some really awful stuff is happening in Alabama: A jail in Etowah County has been holding multiple pregnant women, some for months, in what they say is a move to ‘protect’ their fetuses. National Advocates for Pregnant Women say that 12 women, who have been accused of using drugs, are being held with unconstitutional bail requirements: $10,000 cash bond and in-patient drug treatment, even if they don’t need it or if beds aren’t available. Some of the women have just had newborns, who have been separated from them; all don’t have access to adequate medical or mental health care. One woman, Ashley Banks was forced to sleep on the jail floor for months while pregnant. Banks—accused of using marijuana—had to be taken to the ER twice for severe vaginal bleeding. Yet she was still forced to remain jailed because the court-ordered rehab program rejected her because Banks wasn’t addicted to drugs. Abortion, Every Day (9.9.22)
That's a good point. It's one of those things where the average Joe is willing to allow a 1000 people to be detained based solely on accusation than risk one guy getting out and committing another crime. The latter gets headlines and the former are silent victims. Mostly poor silent victims.
A repeat violent offender should be detained without possibility of bail until trial, it should have nothing to do with $$$. The government (at whatever level) should have to make a case for their continued detention. But ability to raise $$$ should have absolutely nothing to do with it.
