Here’s What Judge’s Ruling on Cash Bail in Illinois, SAFE-T Act Means for the State – NBC Chicago

A judge ruled Thursday that the pre-trial release provisions in the SAFE-T Act are unconstitutional, but what will that mean for the state?

Circuit Judge Thomas Cunnington in Kankakee County ruled that bail reform and pre-trial release provisions in the Pre-Trial Fairness Act are unconstitutional.

The elimination of cash bail was set to take effect Jan. 1, but the full ramifications of the ruling remain uncertain.

Here’s what we know so far for counties across the state:

What Did the Judge Rule and Why?

Cunnington’s ruling held that the SAFE-T Act violated the Separation of Powers Clause, the Victim Rights Act, and unconstitutionally amended Article I, Section 9 of Illinois’ constitution, which codified cash bail in the state.

But the judge denied the injunction that 64 state’s attorneys and sheriffs sought in filing the case.

Cunnington was swayed by the plaintiffs’ argument that the state constitution provides for bail in stating, “All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties,” while Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s staff contended that the statement merely assures defendants that there’s a way out pending trial.

What Does the Ruling mean?

Outside of the elimination of cash bail, other portions of the SAFE-T Act, including new requirements for body cameras and other police reforms, were allowed to stand under the terms of the court order.

According to a press release sent by Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe, one of the lead plaintiffs in the class-action suit, the bail portion of the law will not go into effect on Jan. 1 in the 65 counties that signed onto the complaint filed against the administration of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Raoul, however, said “it is important to note that it is not binding in any other case, including those involving criminal defendants in any of the state’s 102 counties.”

Without an injunction, nothing stops the law from taking effect, Raoul said. And one circuit court’s ruling does not bind other jurisdictions.

Will Cash Bail Be Eliminated?

In at least 65 Illinois counties, cash bail will remain in place on Jan. 1 unlike the rest of the state.

While several Chicago-area counties were included in the suit, many were not. Among the most notable was Cook County, the largest county in Illinois.

Here’s the full list of 65 counties included in the suit:

1. Adams County
2. Bond County
3. Boone County
4. Brown County
5. Carroll County
6. Cass County
7. Christian County
8. Clay County
9. Clinton County
10. Coles County
11. Cumberland County
12. DeKalb County
13. DeWitt County
14. Douglas County
15. Effingham County
16. Fayette County
17. Ford County
18. Franklin County
19. Fulton County
20. Greene County
21. Grundy County
22. Hancock County
23. Henderson County
24. Jackson County
25. Jasper County
26. Jefferson County
27. Jersey County
28. Jo Daviess County
29. Johnson County
30. Kankakee County
31. Kendall County
32. Knox County
33. LaSalle County
34. Lee County
35. Livingston County
36. Logan County
37. Macon County
38. Mason County
39. Madison County
40. Massac County
41. McDonough County
42. McHenry County
43. McLean County
44. Mercer County
45. Monroe County
46. Montgomery County
47. Moultrie County
48. Ogle County
49. Perry County
50. Pope County
51. Pulaski County
52. Randolph County
53. Saline County
54. Sangamon County
55. Scott County
56. Shelby County
57. Stephenson County
58. Tazewell County
59. Union County
60. Vermilion County
61. Washington County
62. White County
63. Will County
64. Winnebago County
65. Woodford County

What’s Next?

Raoul said the state will appeal the ruling to the Illinois Supreme Court, though it remains unclear how quickly the court could take up the matter.

“To definitively resolve this challenge to the pretrial release portions of the SAFE-T Act, Governor Pritzker, the legislative leaders named in the consolidated cases and I intend to appeal the circuit court’s decision directly to the Illinois Supreme Court, where we will ask the court to reverse the circuit court’s decision,” he said in a statement.