By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – A Kankakee County judge, presiding over a consolidated group of more than sixty lawsuits by state’s attorneys, says the state’s law to eliminate cash bail effective Sunday is unconstitutional.
Early reaction to the ruling is conflicted as to whether any part of the “pretrial fairness act,” part of the overall “Safe-T Act,” will go into effect.
A statement from Attorney General Kwame Raoul said this takes care of only those sixty-some lawsuits but that the pretrial fairness act will be in effect in all 102 counties, regardless. State Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield), a former prosecutor who sits on the Senate Criminal Law Committee, told WJBC News late Wednesday that that is the sort of statement intended to get the Supreme Court’s attention.
“There is a certain portion of people that are extremely liberal on criminal justice matters,” McClure, a former prosecutor, said. “They want, quite frankly, to eliminate jails and eliminate any real punishment. That is not how most people in this state view the criminal justice system or view public safety.”
State Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago), chief sponsor of the no-cash-bail portion of the Safe-T Act, said the judge is acting very politically and issuing a ruling which will not hold up. Asked whether helping the state’s Supreme Court tilt more liberal is any less political, Peters said, “This is one judge and one county making a very political opinion. This is not an injunction to stop the law. It seems like it impacts only some counties in the state. We are talking about literally splitting the baby.
“This is our generation’s version of the Voting Rights Act,” Peters added.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]
