CHICAGO — Illinois lawmakers and advocates are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting states that have reduced or eliminated cash bail, calling the move a politically motivated attack on criminal justice reform.
According to a press release from Illinois elected officials, State Sens. Elgie R. Sims, Jr., and Robert Peters, State Rep. Justin Slaughter, and the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice held a virtual press conference on Aug. 25 to denounce the order.
The lawmakers highlighted the Pretrial Fairness Act implemented on Sept. 18, 2023, which ended money bail in Illinois. They said the law helped eliminate the unconstitutional practice of holding individuals in jail simply because they could not afford bail.
Sims, Peters and Slaughter emphasized in the press release that the executive order is not about public safety but rather an attempt to instill fear and exert political power. “We passed the Pretrial Fairness Act in Illinois because we knew it would be better for crime survivors, who now have a voice in whether the person who harmed them is released. It makes communities safer because judges make decisions based on risk and not money,” they said. The lawmakers also pointed to data showing Illinois has become safer since the law’s implementation.
Supporting their stance, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice criticized Trump’s executive order, claiming it is a threat to public safety.
The organization praised Illinois elected officials for standing up against the order and highlighted how the pretrial reforms have successfully reduced socioeconomic inequalities. “The Pretrial Fairness Act has made Illinois safer and eliminated a system that privileged the wealthy,” the group said in the press release.
The lawmakers and advocates also addressed common misconceptions about reducing or ending cash bail. Critics often claim that eliminating bail will lead to increased crime rates, but research from New Jersey, New Mexico, Houston, and Illinois show these claims are false.
Another misconception noted in the press release is that eliminating cash bail will result in dangerous individuals walking free. “That suggestion is utterly false. In no city or state in America is someone charged with murder or sexual assault or any other violent crime automatically released from jail while awaiting trial,” the press release stated.
The release also countered the belief that ending money bail would reduce court appearance rates. Critics argue there would be no incentive for people accused of crimes to appear in court because their money would not be on the line. Supporters of pretrial reform said “that claim should strike anyone with common sense as false, because missing court has consequences: namely, a warrant for arrest, arrest, and possibly subsequent detention until the resolution of the case.”
This argument is supported by data from Illinois and other states that have reduced or eliminated cash bail. Since the Pretrial Fairness Act was implemented, failures to appear in Illinois decreased from 17% to 15%. New Jersey reported similar results in 2020, when those released appeared at 97.1% of their hearings.
Since the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the Pretrial Fairness Act, “Stakeholders across Illinois are reporting that implementation has been smooth and successful.” The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice added in the press release, “Together, we are working to reduce pretrial incarceration in Illinois and, more broadly, to end mass incarceration and address the root causes of socioeconomic and racial inequity in our legal system.”
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