Illinois Freedom Caucus meets on SAFE-T Act

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The Illinois Freedom Caucus hosted an event to discuss the SAFE-T Act.

Speakers of the event included Illinois State Representatives Dan Caulkins and Brad Halbrook, State Senator Steve McClure, State Representative Candidate Lisa Smith, and Macon County State's Attorney Scott Rueter.

Rueter listed several issues the caucus has with the bill. These included overlapping rules, unclear phrasing, and electronic monitoring of those awaiting trial.

"There are a number of things that are at odds with other sections of statutes that already exists and a number of things that are unclear as to what aspects apply, in what way," said Rueter. "So it's just going to be very difficult and it's going to be a big drain on manpower for the State's Attorney's offices everywhere."

Many of the concerns Rueter listed related to the Pretrial Fairness Act. Provisions of the act would eliminate the cash bail system. Pretrial release could be denied by a judge if the person poses "specific, real, and present threat to a person or have a high likelihood of willful flight."

Proponents of the law say we need more trust in our judicial system. Illinois State Senator Scott Bennett said that judges in the state know what they are doing and will be able to keep people safe under the new legislation.

"We pay judges a lot of money and we give them a lot of training to make decisions on sometimes life and death," said Bennett. "We need to give them the discretion to say we believe this person is a danger to the community or we believe this person can be trusted to come back to court."