By: Matt Rosenberg
Illinois state lawmakers in the fall veto session starting Tuesday have an opportunity to correct the gravest missteps baked into their enacted criminal justice reform bill, the SAFE-T Act. The best way to do that would be rescind the entire Act and start over with the deliberation and transparency missing when they jammed through the 764-page bill in the 2021 veto session.
The current law abolishes cash bail and effectively eviscerates pretrial detention on cashless bail for high-risk defendants – while pretending not to. It heightens risks for crime victims, and greenlights anonymous complaints against police, whose resignations and retirements will continue to grow. It is a wrecking ball to criminal justice and law enforcement in the State of Illinois.
But instead of starting over, supermajority Democrats responsible for this dangerous mess will make just minor tweaks to the law. Why should they dismantle SAFE-T, they’ll ask, given the elections they swept last week?
As a result, we’ll see more and more cases statewide where violent and weapons defendants released before trial will be charged with new and egregious violent crimes.
Here’s what to expect as the action on the SAFE-T Act begins again this week in Springfield. Substantive change is more likely in some areas than others, but the net gains will be minimal.
Abolition of cash bail will still stand
It’s already clear what will be the centerpiece of the self-congratulatory “SAFE-T revision” agenda. Lawmakers will clarify that the Act’s apparent blanket abolition of cash bail is redefined to only apply going forward from that provision’s effective date of January 1. It won’t be retroactive, they’ll proclaim. That will address one concern of prosecutors: that defense lawyers will be petitioning courts to release perhaps thousands of high-risk pretrial defendants statewide, already held on high-cash bail.
Even Governor J.B. Pritzker, a prominent defender of the SAFE-T Act, is behind this tweak.
But lawmakers will fail to address the elephant in the room: that cash bail will be abolished for new pretrial defendants after January 1. That’s not only risky, but irresponsible and unwarranted. And, as we’ll show below, lawmakers are likely contravening Illinois’ Constitution.
Politicians will retain SAFE-T’s weasel words on pre-trial detention with no bail
So cash bail will be over. What of pretrial detention? Under the SAFE-T Act as currently approved, defendants can still be held without bail. But the devil is in the details.
Remarkably, judges won’t be able to order felony weapons defendants held on no bail if they are a threat to the community. Instead, they’ll be able to detain them only if they pose a clear threat to a specific individual. That’s dead wrong. The simpler and clearer “community threat” should be the standard.
Many new felony weapons defendants have additional pending charges, or prior felony convictions, or both. Requiring that prosecutors prove such felons are a threat to a specific identifiable person, rather than the community at large, is a ticket to high-risk releases that may endanger public safety.
Evidence comes from Cook County’s dangerous experiment in bail reform, which the legislature adopted and worsened with the SAFE-T Act.
Looking at Cook County, we reported in March on repeated examples of felony weapons defendants freed before trial who then were charged again for crimes like a stabbing, and a murder. We reported from Cook County in April on more felony weapons defendants freed before trial and charged with attempted murder, attempted first-degree murder, and for firing at two hospital guards. In May, we reported on a felony weapons defendant released before trial who was charged with two counts of murder.
How many more bullets and bodies are needed to tighten up pretrial detention for felony weapons defendants?
Weakened pretrial detention for burglars, robbers, batterers won’t get fixed
Also likely to be left out of veto session action is a fix to the risky pretrial detention provisions of the SAFE-T Act for defendants charged with probationable forcible felonies – like aggravated batteries, burglaries, robberies and arsons.
As it stands now under the SAFE-T Act, they can be held before trial on no bail only if they show “willful intent to flee.” That’s wrong for two reasons.
First, prosecutors rightly note it’s a ridiculous standard of proof: you’d effectively have to show a defendant is plotting his escape from the jurisdiction. Second, evidence that intent may be substantial can’t include prior court no-shows. It’s an utterly rigged rule.
State’s Attorneys James Glasgow of Will County (a Democrat) and Robert Berlin of DuPage County (a Republican) are among the many who’ve called out the risky limitations on pretrial detention for defendants charged with probationable forcible felonies, and weapons felonies.
The “willful intent to flee” requirement for pretrial detention is an evasion of accountability. It sidelines the safety of the law-abiding public and favors accused criminals who’ve already thumbed their nose previously at the criminal justice process by failing to show up for court dates. Leave it to the judge to decide based on the entirety of each defendant’s prior record including convictions and all pending charges.
Legislators won’t protect victims and witnesses from ankle bracelet busters, either
It gets worse. Under the SAFE-T Act, pretrial defendants on electronic monitoring who go off the radar can’t be pursued for 48 hours. In Cook County the electronic monitoring population already includes a growing proportion of high-risk defendants who are facing trial for offenses like murder, attempted murder, sex crimes, armed violence, and three different weapons felonies. The 48-hour head start for ankle bracelet scofflaws gives them plenty of time to threaten or harm a witness. Or worse.
Witnesses in Chicago get killed, as reported here and here. Even pregnant witnesses get killed in Chicago.
Lawmakers can go beyond the cosmetic here too, by rescinding the 48-hour head start for ankle bracelet scofflaws. Let local police and sheriff’s departments go after defendants on electronic monitoring as soon as they are AWOL.
But once more, don’t hold your breath.
State’s attorneys suit: Constitution affirms cash bail and victims’ rights to protection
In considering all they need to do, lawmakers should bear in mind the pending consolidated lawsuit against them to rescind the Act, by 58 Illinois county State’s Attorneys.
One main thrust of the lawsuit is that cash bail is guaranteed by the Illinois State Constitution, Article 1, “Bill of Rights.” It holds in Section 9 that “all persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties.”
Article 1 in the Illinois State Constitution also suggests the need to ease the SAFE-T Act’s restrictions on pre-trial detention, which we’ve outlined above.
In Section 8.1, titled “Crime Victims’ Rights,” Article 1 states victims must be “reasonably protected from the accused throughout the criminal justice process” and must have their safety “considered in denying or fixing the amount of bail, determining whether to release the defendant, and setting conditions of release after arrest and conviction.”
You’re On Your Own, Now
Watch closely whether and to what extent the SAFE-T Act is fixed during the November veto session. It will reveal a lot about whether lawmakers are serious or not about finding a balance between the rights of the accused and the rights of victims.
Yet everything we have seen to date suggests that Illinois state legislators are fundamentally unserious about the rights of victims and the law-abiding public to be protected from unreasonable and dangerous risks posed by felony defendants, many with prior felony violent or weapons convictions.
The sad result of legislative failure to rescind or substantively improve the SAFE-T Act will be more violent crime and more violent crime victims. We will all be several steps closer, across Illinois, to the Mad Max world already emergent in the test-bed of bail reform, Cook County.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- Chicago Transit Authority violent crime aims for five-year high in 2022; Red Line stuck in “Wild West”
- More crimes, more weapons, few arrests: An Uber driver’s carjacking tale accents Chicago’s ongoing decay
- Cook County’s dismal crime situation offers a glimpse of Illinois under the SAFE-T Act
- SAFE-T Act targets cops for online transparency, but not criminals
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
Democrats may not have a bottom to their depravity on the path to perdition they are on. This bill is heinous. And the name of it is surely a twist of the knife in the backs of good people.
The SAFE-T act is anything but safe. It is a message to the public from its authors. The message is…don’t you dare pick on our criminals they are ours, our future voters. And the public still votes for the Authors of this and their Political Affiliation.
Very good article. I’m thinking a lot of people will be moving out of Illinois as this bill plays itself out.
Bond is not only to prevent fleeing the jurisdiction, it’s about public safety. Illinois will be significantly less safe for residents and visitors alike. And apparently the concerns of victims have been lost in the discussion.
Good article Matt, More virtue signaling from the worthless leaders of our State. The SAFE-T ACT? What a misnomer slap in the face to citizens. This rot that started with the rewriting if the Illinois Constitution in the 70″s It established a clear path to lifelong pensions which can’t be diminished and to elections that have the same results over and over. The true definition of insanity. Matt the fact that there needs to be a specific threat to hold someone shatters the crucible of trust in our Constitution, Bill of rights and the ability of states to establish “policing… Read more »
we have worthless leaders because completely brainwashed idiots and snowflakes voted for them.
Matt, first of all, Thanks for a thorough and objective analysis of this law. Let’s take a look at why we have a Criminal Justice system, guaranteed by both the constitutions of the United States and Illinois. Briefly, those time-tested documents are designed to provide for Community Safety, while protecting the rights of those accused of crimes, providing for prompt, fair trials, and the ability to confront their accuser. Getting back to the Community Safety aspect, the Illinois Constitution provides “victims must be “reasonably protected from the accused throughout the criminal justice process” and must have their safety “considered in… Read more »
Don’t let Matt do all the heavy lifting in trying to save Illinois and Chicago from itself. If there’s anyone sane left in Illinois you must stand up to your criminal government or simply give up and get out.
The lawlessness of these leftist politicians who call themselves “democrats” knows no bounds. They are rewarding felonious criminals and encouraging them to continue in their illegal and dangerous activities. The scum are protecting their own at the expense of every law-abiding citizen in this state who is just trying to live their lives in peace.
The SAFE-T Act won’t make anyone but the criminal elements safer.
Why can’t the capons of the Republican party pull the democrats trick of finding a party line judge who will issue a statewide injunction against SAFE T? They do it all the time. I’m sure some loyal, conservative thinking judge wouldn’t hesitate to do it.
The Mad Max reference brings it home . This whole thing should be scrapped but it won’t be. My advice is arm up and make plans to move out of the State. I simply can’t believe people vote for people like Pritzker. I avoid Chicago like the plague these days. It’s going to turn ever more violent with massive urban decay and now that will start to happen State
Our “elected leaders” are only interested in one thing: Being reelected and moving up the political ladder. From my personal experience in politics, it is highly likely people above them have given instructions to pass this ridiculous law, and they must play ball in order to stay in power. They’re not thinking about how their actions affect their constituents. They don’t care. If they cared, they never would have passed this insidious legislation in the first place. Politicians are professional meeting makers who make their livings off the public teat. They don’t actually DO anything. They are the ultimate welfare… Read more »
It’s as if the politicians of Illinois are deliberately trying to make this state first on the list of crime thus destroying it.
You are exactly right when you say victims’ rights will be trampled in favor of offenders. You are equally correct when you state that these clowns for legislators will view the election results as an affirmation of the validity and correctness of the Act. Illinois voters are clueless and uneducated, yet they continue to wonder why things are so screwed up. Those of us that see the light need to vote with our feet no matter how painfully that may be emotionally and financially!!!
Sad. Chicago seems determined to battle NYC in a race to the bottom in terms of public safety.
There’s a convincing argument that no cash bail provisions of the SAFE-T Act are unconstitutional. The constitution itself requires bail and the SAFE-T Act abolishes that.
I hate to engage in generalizations, but the accusations that Democrats treat the constitution as nothing more than a piece of paper seems true here. Surely they all knew the law was totally unconstitutional but they did it anyways.
Just as Biden tried to foregive student loans, or force vaccine mandates, etc…
As the favorite son of Hyde Park proclaimed, “Elections have consequences.” It would seem rhetorical to ask, “Now elected, what are the leaders going to do about crime?” Listen not their response(s), but watch their actions. As Michael Corleone told Senator Geary in The Godfather II, “Senator, you can have my answer now it you’d like. My offer is this, nothing.” Except in this case, the leadership is Michael Corleone. Michael will pay nothing and the senator is on the hook for the shake down Geary just demanded. Same principle, just a reversal of observed roles. Pay your taxes …..… Read more »
Victims have not rights according to the so called “SAFE-T” Act. The only people with rights are criminals…under the SAFE-T act, they have the right to commit a crime, virtually any crime, and be released back into the public to commit yet more crimes, only to be arrested and be released again and again and again. Why? Why do victimized citizens have no rights? Why did the Chicago Tribune endorse the legislators who approved this idiotic law? Voting for the SAFE-T Act should have been a disqualifier from the get-go. The corruption in Chicago and Illinois continues. It is ugly.
Excellent analysis. The only thing missing is analyzing what programs will need to be dismantled for the SAFE-T Act to take precedence. There is, after all, only so much taxpayer money to go around. How will the Counties reallocate the money from the programs they already have in place and that are working? For instance, look at DuPage County, Sheriff Mendricks’ programs, which have improved hundreds of lives, if not more – because he sees incarceration as an opportunity to turn their lives around for the greater good, not just put them back on the street high or angry. In… Read more »
Do you seriously believe the numbers Mendrick threw out there? All of those programs were just a waste of a massive amount of tax payer money and recidivism wasn’t greatly reduced. Now all of that money and eliminated staff and obviously wasted space of a jail can be used for bond court. Jails will be empty and staff eliminated to coddle criminals.
Did I tell you that not one thing in this bill is good?? Well, then let me me repeat….NOT ONE THING IS GOOD IN THIS BILL!! It protects only those who did the crime and NOT the victim. The sad fact is politicians know this and will not revise it in the least. The only good thing it may do is encourage more to get their CC permit. I know many will be doing just that, too. Can you or anyone else blame them? For years it’s been the Democrat’s political sandbox and they have used us as their socialistic… Read more »
Truth. Illinois is the Wild Wild West now and people need to get protection.
Amazing analysis. Fantastic article that should be on the AP wire.
Matt Rosenberg’s excellent story sheds a great deal of light on a potential disaster—the SAFE-T Act, which really is the UN-SAFE-T Act. I’m a lifelong Democrat, having never missed an election at any level since I started voting in 1976. But I am appalled by the Illinois Democrats who are supporting this clear and present danger to communities across the state. So what’s truly happening here? We have elected opportunistic, self-entitled politicians who value their own election over public safety and good citizenship.
I’m disgusted.
Sorry to say, but this is what happens when voters vote for only one party over and over. It leads to corruption just as surely as night follows day. Would Ed Burke or Mike Madigan be where they are today if any other party candidate had challenged them ? My word, what a wasteland Illinois has become !
Exactly what did people in Illinois think was going to happen? 😕. The criminal Burke’s, Madigan’s, Daleys, Pritzker’s don’t care they don’t live in Illinois and have personal protection.
This will be the biggest disaster in recent years. I don’t expect the Omni party in the legislature to do anything but token gestures to fix his mess.
The elected class has thrown in with the criminals. I’m open to alternative theories, but there does not appear to be one. This goatscrew of a law can only end badly and no one can make a credible case otherwise. It remains a wonder that the people who keep voting for people who pull stunts like this are oblivious to the results. Or they benefit. It’s one or the
other.
They don’t see it that way. Like I’ve said many times before, the E in SAFE-T stands for Equity. Equity to the Black Caucus means incarcerating fewer Black people. So they passed a bill to essentially decriminalize otherwise criminal and anti-social behavior that disproportionately engage in. This will result in fewer arrests, jailing and convictions. The result of this will essentially favelas outside of the control of the local police force, where residents can commit crimes without fear of ever getting caught, and if they are caught, they will receive light punishments. There will be local gangleaders that will control… Read more »
Absolutely correct! This mess has now become a deadly mess. Victims are at the bottom of this list. CCSAO has been gutted of any capable people in favor of the woke youngsters who won’t be there for long either once they realize how broken this system is. What a crying shame!
Those hapless folks are such a huge percentage of Chicago area residents. Apparently, their families show up to vote for the political hacks, that reward bad behavior.
The “democrats” are actually just protecting their own. Lawlessness in that party is both rampant and blatant.
The Safe-T last law truly is a criminals Christmas gift wish list. Thankfully 58 counties are sueing Pritzker’s chaos and more crime for all unlawful law. Only a sick mental patient would vote to keep Democrats in office.
One word describes this: asinine. It’s one thing to eliminate bail for minor offenses, but this goes beyond common sense. It’s absurd to allow dangerous criminals the freedom to continue to harm others.
Questions I have never heard asked or voluntarily answered: Did ANY of the state legislators who voted for this bill actually read the WHOLE bill? Did Governor Pritzker READ THE WHOLE BILL before he signed it? – – – I don’t mean “hear about it”; nor do I mean “read parts here and there”; nor do I mean partisan (in either direction!) commentary…..I mean just what I said: HAVE ANY OF THEM ACTUALLY READ THE WHOLE BILL? My guess is they have not…..jus’ sayin’ – then we wonder why we get the kind of legislation we have here. Shame on… Read more »
There are so many nuanced and outright concerns in this huge bill that it is almost impossible to focus in on what might be the most dangerous going forward. Local law enforcement is deeply concerned about their coming inability to assist a property owner when they would like someone removed – from their yard, from their church, from their business….the police will come when called, will be able to issue a “ticket” to the malingerer (analogous to a traffic ticket), but then it will be up to the home owner or the church usher to remove that person from the… Read more »
And they vote these social equity, BLM supporting Sheriff’s like Mendrick, Hain etc… back into office. I’m not shedding any tears for their supporters.
there is absolutely NO good reason for this legislation, other than the obvious fact it will make the streets more dangerous, criminals emboldened, and law enforcement enfeebled. The only reason behind this is to create a crisis in local law enforcement, which would bring the desired result of federal policing. This is no secret; indeed the desire to remove locals from enforcing their own neighborhoods has been a fascist staple since the 30’s in Germany and Italy. Al Sharpton blurted it out by accident some years back and was quickly hushed up. Until you all realize that this is all… Read more »
TRUTH. That’s the end goal for the fascist leaders.
It’s hard to enjoy the benefits provided through organized labor if you have to carry a gun to take out the trash.
Leave Illinois as soon as you can with as much as you can.
Truth and be prepared to use it.
Agree they should just start over. But sadly they won’t. Thanks for providing another enlightening piece.
Agreed, they should trash it and start over. But, as you said, they won’t see the need because of the elections last week. If the people of Illinois aren’t smart enough to not vote for these individuals, then, as harsh as it sounds, they will reap what they sow. Sad, but people across the country seem to have no problem watching their cities devolve into third-world slums.
There needs to be a day of reckoning for the advocates of endangering society by not enforcing criminal laws, releasing violent people from jail, etc. They are literally aiding and abetting the further crimes that happen.
Cashless bail makes for some excellent virtue signaling. The elimination of cash bail is an invitation for a more intrusive government.
I have no faith in the Illinois General Assembly to do anything useful.
Now more than ever as they are scared stiffless by the Black Caucus.
The marxists (political elite, etc) WANT to destroy our social structure. They want the police to fail locally. This failure gives them a CAUSE to form a Federal police structure. They want us to be hungry, cold, unable to travel, unable to FREELY communicate. It is all part of the globalism being pushed by those who have great wealth.
IL used to be a great state. Now I give up. Matt, you said it; “Why should they dismantle SAFE-T, they’ll ask, given the elections they swept last week?”
***—The 48-hour head start for ankle bracelet scofflaws—***
Sadly, the victims of criminal actions get no such head start…
The victims and the victims families need to speak out against the system that is letting too many innocent people become murder victims. One of the problems is one party rule. The ruling elite have no reason to change their ways because they know that they can do whatever they want.
I cannot help but think of Marcus Cicero’s words.’THE CLOSER THE COLLAPSE OF AN EMPIRE, THE CRAZIER ITS LAWS.” I cannot think of anything crazier than protecting repeat violent criminals and the complete disregard for the victims. It’s as though these lawmakers are completely brainless and out of touch with reality.
The Black Caucus knows exactly what they’re doing and that’s to have the White man now on their knees.
Two great Matt R. callouts from article below for those skimming to the comments. But quickly: Republicans need a new approach to neutralize accusations of playing up crime; I think they should let minority communities speak for themselves on how bad this will turn out. I think many black and brown folks are of two minds on criminal justice: They want more police but they also think the system works against people that look like them. So it’s important to clearly show how the system IS mostly fair. And that is hard when media refuses to look at data indicating… Read more »
Black and Brown?? Majority of this lawless is committed by Black people.
We need to be calling or visiting the offices of our state legislatures, and demand that they make drastic changes in this obscene bill. They won’t change anything unless we put the heat on them.
The time to put the heat on legislators was last week. Instead of heat they got carte blanche to do anything they want
Legislators are scared stiff and do as they’re told by the Black Caucus.
You are absolutely correct. We saw in the debates that Pritzker just wanted to taut it and not address it’s obvious dangerous flaws. A huge problem for law abiding citizens.
What I fail to understand is how legislators don’t understand, or appear to understand, the multiple valid points that Matt raised in this article. Is it all politics for them? Don’t they care about balancing the interests of the accused and the victims? If legislators suffered directly from the provisions in the bill, would they sing a different tune? I have my doubts.
The Black Caucus has made it clear that any opposition to the bill is racist.
“We can smell it. It’s a bad stench of racism coming from that side of the aisle,” Rep. Justin Slaughter (D-Chicago) said while pointing at Republicans (while debating Senate Bill 2364 that clarifies portions of the SAFE-T Act in April 2022).
We can only hope the black caucus reaps what they sow…
The unstated goal is that the Black Caucus wants its voters to handle their disputes internally and extrajudicially. They want their own criminal justice system outside of the state. They want to be able to kill and shoot and destroy their enemies without interference from the city or state police. They can’t do much about the Feds, yet. And if by chance, their voters get caught up in the state’s own criminal justice system, they want the process and penalties to be as easy and smooth as possible. This of course is a gangbanger bill written for gangbangers by people… Read more »
Truth and the White legislators are scared stiff of the Black Caucus
Follow the money. It leads to wealthy politicians, corruption and communism (where elected officials live high on the hog and the minions struggle
If this isn’t a clarion call to escape Chicago and arm yourself to the teeth, on and off the streets, I don’t know what might be ! This will not be good for Chicago business’s, restaurant’s or night life, as many will forsake the experience for a safe meal at home. And if you don’t think that convention planners will not factor these new rules into their decisions, you’d be wrong !
I don’t know what to feel. Anger, sadness, worry, or scared? All of the above?
Why? Why aren’t criminals held without bail? Why is it no longer don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time?
Will the reported crime numbers go down?
From what I’ve heard and read this whole act benefits the criminal. What may I ask deters them?
Will good law abiding, tax paying citizens be held captive in their own homes? Won’t we then become the imprisoned?
Yes you’re correct Mad Max here we come.
Thanks for your words.
Expect 1970’s and 1990’s levels of crime as the city hollows out more. We’ve seen this all before, this bill is really nothing new. It’s soft on crime and soft on crime leads to more crime and it destroys urban areas. The 2020’s have had elevated crime, approaching 1970’s and 1990’s levels but there’s still some room to the upside, and, we are only three years into the decade, while the 70’s and 90’s crime waves lasted the entire decade. The best way is to fortify your house. Upgrade your locks, get security cameras, arm up and buy lot of… Read more »
Here is a short gif (from reddit) showing the progression of the chicago sprawl beginning in 1984 until 2012. Keep in mind, this wasn’t really growth, the sprawl was families fleeing the city and cook county for safety and lower taxes.
https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/2ln83r/chicagos_urban_sprawl_since_1984/
I am depressed for our country, but especially for my neighbors in nearby Illinois. Apparently the voters just can’t help themselves as they get in line to all jump off the cliff in tandem.
At least there are 2.45 million of us (trump voters in 2020) who are on the same side. We just need 1.2 million more ballots to comfortably win in 2024.
Democrats are fund raising by selling Tshirts with the logo “I❤ Criminals”
Why would they change anything? The last election demonstrated that there is no such thing as an “unacceptable” level of crime to a Cook county voter.
We need to watch this like a hawk, find out who’s trying to make real changes, but more importantly find out who specifically is thwarting those efforts. Those are the people that need to be voted out. And work like hell to elect Paul Vallas on February 28.
With the WRA passing, wont law enforcement unions across the state be able to bargain back some of the provisions in the Act that relate to their labor? Constitution trumps legislation.
Interesting idea –