INSANITY: Illinois Supreme Court Overturns Lower Court Ruling, Paving the Way for Elimination of Cash Bail on Felonies Including Second-Degree Murder, Drug-Induced Homicide, and Kidnapping

The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the Pretrial Fairness Act provision of the Safety, Accountability, Equity, Transparency-today Act, meaning that cash bail will be eliminated in Illinois in 60 days, a massive win for criminals.

The elimination of cash bail in Illinois was set to go into effect on Sunday, January 1, 2023, but the state’s highest court halted the reform.

Democrats in Illinois passed a new law to eliminate the cash bail system. The new law aimed at reforming the state’s criminal justice system.

This will result in the release on no bail while awaiting court date of those accused of certain felonies, such as “second-degree murder, aggravated battery, and arson without bail, as well as drug-induced homicide, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, intimidation, aggravated DUI, aggravated fleeing and eluding, drug offenses and threatening a public official.”

Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker signed HB 3653 THE SAFE-T (Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity- Today) ACT into law in February, saying “Transforming the pretrial detention system so low-income people aren’t thrown behind bars while only the wealthy walk free, diverting low-level drug crimes into substance-treatment programs and reducing excessive stays in prison.”

Republican Mayor of Orland Park, Keith Pekau, said in a press conference earlier this year that this new law would deny victims their constitutional rights.

“It abolishes cash bail for almost every offense,” Pekau said. “This includes, but isn’t limited to, kidnapping, armed robbery, second-degree murder, drug-induced homicide, aggravated DUI, threatening a public official, and aggravated fleeing and eluding.”

“Offenders released on electronic monitoring have to be in violation for 48 hours before law enforcement can act. They can almost drive to Alaska before we can even look for them,” he said.

“It denies victims their constitutional rights. And keep this in mind, businesses and homeowners will no longer be able to remove trespassers from your residence or your businesses. Someone could decide to live in your shed, and all we can do is give them a ticket. You have to decide what level of force is required to remove them and whether or not it’s legal. This is a massive threat to the residents of Orland Park, Cook County in Illinois,” Pekau warned.

Earlier this year, a Kankakee, Illinois County judge ruled that parts of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today,  SAFE-T Act, violate the Illinois’ Constitution.

“Because, as the Illinois Supreme Court has determined, the administration of the justice system is an inherent power of the courts upon which the legislature may not infringe and the setting of bail falls within that administrative power, the appropriateness of bail rests with the authority of the court and may not be determined by legislative fiat,” Judge Cunnington wrote in his decision.

On Tuesday, Illinois Supreme Court overturned the lower court ruling citing ending cash bail is constitutional.

“The Illinois Constitution of 1970 does not mandate that monetary bail is the only means to ensure criminal defendants appear for trials or the only means to protect the public,” the court concluded. “Our constitution creates a balance between the individual rights of defendants and the individual rights of crime victims. The Act’s pretrial release provisions set forth procedures commensurate with that balance. For the reasons that we have stated, we reverse the circuit court’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs,” according to the Supreme Court opinion in the case of Rowe v. Raoul.

Cash bail will be eliminated in Illinois starting on September 18, 2023.

Read the full opinion below: