SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Illinois Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups that crafted the state's Pretrial Fairness Act are furious that President Donald Trump signed an executive order to end cashless bail policies. Trump's action is once again putting Illinois in the national spotlight.
Democrats said the Pretrial Fairness Act was a historic policy for Illinois and the country. Sponsors note that the law moved Illinois from using a system based on how much money someone has in their pocket to a process based on risk. They stress that this was a fundamental shift towards safety.
"People like Donald Trump and his friends kept talking about what we were doing was going to cause a massive spike in violence," said Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago). "It was going to drive up crime. The fact of the matter is not only here in Chicago, but throughout the state and throughout this country, we've seen a historic drop in violence."
More than a quarter of a million people were incarcerated in Illinois jails every year before the Pretrial Fairness Act took effect. Advocates said 90% of those people were legally innocent awaiting trial, and the vast majority of them were only behind bars because they could not afford to pay bail.
Although many Republicans are happy to see Trump crack down on the cashless bail system.
"It's taken the discretion away from our judges. It has turned our criminal justice system into a revolving door," said Rep. Patrick Sheehan (R-Lockport). "It has coddled criminals, and it has really left victims with no peace and no sense of justice."
Advocates said that is far from the truth, as groups supporting survivors played a critical role in drafting and implementing the law. The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence said the president should not interfere in state law and instead fund resources for survivors.
"We know that a return to cash bail will endanger the lives of survivors, will take money out of communities, will put survivors at risk of losing their homes and losing their children," said Amanda Pyron, president and CEO of The Network. "We know it's not the way that public policy should be decided."
Sheehan told WAND News that he hopes Trump's executive order will encourage bipartisan discussions about the criminal justice system when lawmakers return to Springfield in October. He would like to see law enforcement, the ACLU of Illinois and Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice come together to discuss potential reforms.
"This is an opportunity to get this right in a bipartisan manner," Sheehan said. "The residents of Illinois deserve it. We deserve to have the safest state out of all fifty."
Even so, Peters and Rep. Justin Slaughter (D-Chicago) said Trump's attack on the historic law and pretrial reforms nationwide is not about safety. They argue that Trump is a deeply unpopular, failing president who is trying to make people afraid so that he can hold onto power by brute force.
"What he does care about is stoking up fear, and mischief and chaos," Slaughter said. "He's manufacturing crisis, if you will. He's trying to convolute everything and certainly creating confusion."
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