Sangamon Sun

Illinois Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge President Chris Southwood is bemoaning the reinstatement of the Safe-T Act’s cashless bail provision known as the Pretrial Fairness Act. 

On Tuesday, July 18, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled the provision in the SAFE-T Act, which ends cash bail, as constitutional, making Illinois the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail. Following the ruling, cashless bail can be applied to even the worst crimes such as murder and rape. Of the state’s 102 state’s attorneys, 100 opposed the SAFE-T Act and 64 of them signed on to the litigation arguing the Act’s unconstitutionality. 

"Today's ruling by the Supreme Court confirms Illinois' status as the state of lawlessness and disorder,” Southwood said in a statement, “The court ignored the pleas of nearly every prosecutor in the state of Illinois, Democrat and Republican, that the elimination of cash bail will put dangerous criminals back on the street, instead of keeping them in jail or forcing them to post cash bail as they await trial.” 

Southwood underscored “Many of those offenders will commit crimes again within hours of their release."

"And who will have to arrest those offenders again and again? The police officers whose jobs have been made immeasurably more difficult by all of the new anti-law enforcement measures that are in place," he said. "Today's ruling is a slap in the face to those who enforce our laws and the people those laws are supposed to protect."

In the landmark decision, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled the provision of the SAFE-T Act, which ends cash bail, as constitutional, according to ABC7 Chicago, making Illinois the first state to eliminate cash bail. The 5-2 vote came after a six-month delay caused by legal challenges against the provision. Critics argued that the law restricts judges' discretion in detaining individuals. Courts across the state will have a two-month preparation period before the new bail rules take effect.

Governor J.B. Pritzker donated $2 million to two Illinois Supreme Court justices' campaigns, Mary O'Brien and Elizabeth Rochford, despite a law capping campaign contribution limits at $500,000, The Heartlander reported. Both justices voted in favor of reinstating cashless bail in the SAFE-T Act. Critics have expressed concerns about potential conflicts of interest and call for oversight and recusal to maintain public trust in the judicial system.

“If we don’t have confidence in the opinions the judicial branch issues then our judicial branch is failing,” Chris Forsyth with the nonpartisan Judicial Integrity Project told The Center Square. “Political donations can lead to issues of judicial integrity and the United States Supreme Court has said so. In some cases, they have found political donations to be so grave that there is a conflict of interest that is impermissible.”

After the Illinois Supreme Court's ruling ending cash bail, Republicans are voicing opposition and calling for a special legislative session to amend the SAFE-T Act. They express concerns that removing cash bail could endanger residents, narrow the range of crimes for which judges can detain individuals, and impact funding for police departments, while Democrats support the court's decision. Republican leadership in the General Assembly hopes to address these concerns and make amendments before cash bail ends, which according to KHQA would be on Sept. 18.