Possible end of cash bail in Illinois

Posted on January 26, 2021
Sponsoring Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago). (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Pritzker is considering a bill the legislature has sent him to eliminate cash bail in Illinois in two years.

Sponsoring Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago) tells the online program “The Appeal” where you stay awaiting trial should not depend on how much money you make.

“For too long we have allowed law enforcement to tell us what it means to have a safe community, even though many of them don’t live in our community to begin with,” said Peters. “Organizations, legislators, and folks who are working on policy understand it is on us to find the safety that we need in our community.

“The other part is we need to indict a failed system of public safety; one that relies on ‘tough on crime’ policies that haven’t worked.”

Peters says, if anyone wants a model bill, let’s make it.

Another “Appeal” panelist, Sharone Mitchell of the Illinois Justice Project, said people often forget – when they hear of an arrest – that it’s “innocent until proven guilty,” rather than simply locking someone up and beginning their punishment immediately.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…