Been hearing about the cash bail ban in Illinois and have questions about it? Here’s some information from the source.
I’ve been seeing some people talk about the cash bail ban which is part of the Pretrial Forgiveness Act in House Bill 3653. I spent some time researching and found this website. It is the official website for the Pretrial Implementation Task Force.
It has all the information you need including simple flowcharts that explain how this will work and the different conditions. Archived zoom meetings, upcoming zoom meetings you can join, all of the involved members, etc.
· 12 hr. ago · Stickied comment · edited 9 hr. agoPlease read the linked material before making a comment here. There is ALOT of misinformation about this new law currently circulating.
A few things this bill does not do -
Release kidnappers.
Release murderers.
Require some completely made up "48hour wait time" before checking on electronic monitoring.
We will be strict with the sub-reddit rules regarding misinformation. Tread lightly.
Other insightful threads providing clarity:
https://www.reddit.com/r/illinois/comments/xch8ib/this_is_a_chart_that_shows_what_pretrial_fairness/
https://www.reddit.com/r/illinois/comments/xcm6j2/critics_of_the_safet_act_havent_read_the_bill/
7 more replies
· 8 hr. ago · edited 8 hr. agoI agree, the coverage is absolutely terrible. I had to go through so much garbage to find the official website, it was ridiculous.
And I was amazed to find out there’s an entire active aspect of it like the zoom meetings that have been going on since June apparently. I mean why wasn’t this widely available? They must’ve posted about it on Facebook.
· 9 hr. ago · edited 7 hr. agoI will say the misinformation has been significant.
But I will also say the hand waving has also been concerning, since the bill does do a number of things to the law enforcement system that I don't think people are really paying attention to.
Causing misdemeanors, up to Class B, to be citation-only (no arrest) is a concern. There are plenty of misdemeanors that you would want the police to intercede and arrest.
The reduction of pre-trial monitoring and holding is also concerning. It sounds great on paper until you realize a good chunk of those cases are domestic violence and DUI, and those people are right back on the street with no way to compel them to attend court, no real consequences for missing court, and a strong likelihood of repeat offense. Bail gave offenders skin in the game, now there's none.
The flip side of the abolishment of cash bail is now judges only have two options, release or hold. What if a judge thought a $50,000/10% bond was appropriate to ensure court attendance, but now that's not an option? But you consider the suspect a flight risk? Now they're just held, with even less options to be released. Which means we could end up with a more restrictive system, as opposed to less.
It's one thing to want police transparency and to decriminalize certain behavior, I agree with those provisions 100%. But the removal of consequences, making it harder to arrest and harder to ensure court attendance, will have a guaranteed and measurable impact on repeat offenses. It will indisputably cause more crime. There are legitimate criticisms of this fly-by-night bill passage, if you look past the misinformation.
Edit: Source: IL Attorney. Partner does Criminal Defense (and is licking his chops for January).
· 11 hr. agoYou have no idea how happy this makes me! I was also sick of the misinformation and nonsense, but also the lack of information. I was so glad to finally find actual information and even happier to be able to share it with others.
I actually thought this was a bad thing but looking at everything it looks actually not that bad. Honestly I feel like other states should do some of this. While I still don’t understand all of the fancy legal government language to me it actually seems more fair. Although if someone could explain to me how bail has been abolished is a good thing please do cuz it doesn’t really make sense, will these people still be watched closely?
· 8 hr. ago · edited 7 hr. agoThis makes me so happy! I’m really glad you can see how it is a more fair process.
how bail has been abolished is a good thing please do cuz it doesn’t really make sense, will these people still be watched closely?
To answer your question bail hasn’t been abolished it’s just been changed from getting you out of jail if you have the money to do so, to being a process of determining whether you should stay or not. Depending on the severity of your crime, if you harmed others, if you could harm others if you’re released, etc.
This is great because people that don’t have to(if they don’t have violent offenses, or can harm others)won’t wait months in jail before their trial date.
According to the warrants flow chart, if someone doesn’t comply with the conditions of release or fails to appear in court then… they just get a new court date. They have to then not comply with those conditions and not appear in court again before an arrest warrant can be issued. But if the charge isn’t a felony then they’ll just be released Pretrial again with new conditions to restart the process.
Am I misreading this or will there be no punishment for not actually showing up to court unless you’re being charged with a felony and you’ve not complied once already? Genuine question btw
I assume this is what you were looking at?
Yes, it's unclear whether they can immediately issue an arrest warrant as opposed to issuing an order to appear. But the key on the order to appear is that if the person avoids being served the order, fails to appear, or otherwise absconds, then a warrant can be issued for their arrest. As the court points out, this will likely be hashed out in appellate courts as there is already a circuit split.
I'm not an expert in legalese stuff, but the bill just basically means you don't have to pay money to make bail right? You can still be arrested and convicted and go to prison you just don't have to spend a bunch of money to not sit in jail during the trial. Sounds like just making things more accessible to everyone versus just well off people
I've heard people calling it the "purge" like it isn't that deep.
· 9 hr. agoYes thats exactly what the bill is. And yes people have been making it way deeper and more complicated than it actually is. And it sucks because this some amazing judicial progress, and it will help people but it’s been taken over by some absurd misinformation.
