Months after cash bail ended in Illinois, more changes could be coming. What to know.
Early into the implementation of a first-in-the-nation law, criminal justice advocates are urging caution in drawing major conclusions from the first seven months of the Pretrial Fairness Act — an Illinois law ending cash bail.
The Pretrial Fairness Act, part of the broader Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, eliminated the use of cash bond to grant pretrial release and went through several revisions before going into effect last September. So far, bookings at county jails have decreased statewide, including down nearly 10% at the Sangamon County Jail.
While proponents have stood by the policy's aimed goals, holding an individual in jail before trial based on their potential to endanger others or attempting to flee instead of their ability to post bail, many believe further changes are necessary.
Already, the Illinois Supreme Court approved amendments after a substantial increase of pretrial detention release appeals. According to a recent report from the Pretrial Release Appeals Task Force, appeals went from an average of 17 annual bond appeals under the prior cash-based bail system to a projected 4,557 appeals under the Pretrial Fairness Act – a 268-fold increase.
The amendments, going into effect last month, ended a 14-day deadline to file an appeal and allow individuals to file only one appeal at a time. Attorneys are also now required to file a motion for relief before they can file an appeal notice through the new changes.
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Sharlyn Grace, senior policy advisor at the Cook County Public Defender's Office, said the amendments were necessary to alleviate some of the burden placed on the courts under the new law. The increase in appeals under the cashless bail system, she believes, shows the shortcomings of the prior bond system.
"It was a system that operated basically without review and I would say that is a system that is broken," Grace said of the bond system during a panel discussion in Chicago last week. "We don't want to see a return to a few dozen appeals every year. That's not a system that recognizes the importance of these decisions for the individuals whose liberty is at-stake."
Now in the closing weeks of the spring session, state lawmakers are considering further changes to the Pretrial Fairness Act. Here's what you need to know.
Tackling domestic violence
Under the Pretrial Fairness Act, the prosecution can seek pretrial detention of an individual accused of domestic violence. Yet, analysis conducted by Loyola University found that prosecutors do not file petitions in the majority of these cases. Those that do file petitions, claiming an individual poses a threat to a person or is liable to flee, are similarly unsuccessful.
The Loyola study looked at four counties — Cook, DuPage, Kane and McHenry — that have made their data public and determined petitions were filed between 16% and 53% of cases. Pretrial detention ranged from 4% to 13%.
Amanda Pyron, executive director of the Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, said the data from the first six months since implementation is promising.
"What it means is that it's possible the system's working," she said at the panel. "We made these categories and defenses detainable and that judges are using their discretion on who to detain and when."
Opponents, however, point to a recent murder-suicide in Villa Park, a Chicago suburb as evidence of the legislation's shortcomings. DuPage County authorities said Winston Elguezabal shot and killed himself and his wife last week after being granted pretrial release with charges of misdemeanor domestic battery charges reports The Daily Herald. Earlier in April, Elguezabal was ordered to stay at least 1,000 feet from his wife, Julie, and to surrender any firearms he had by a judge and placed on electronic monitoring.
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Under the current system, the prosecution is required to file a motion if they believe an individual should be detained pretrial. New legislation from Senate Minority Leader John Curran would "flip" that burden onto the alleged abuser to file a petition to prove they are not an imminent threat.
"This is going to protect more women and children who are the victims of domestic violence, but also it's going to increase the number of abusers that are actually detained," Curran, R-Downers Grove, said during a news conference last week.
Democrats have in-turn said increased urgency is needed to pass Karina's Bill, legislation requiring law enforcement to remove any guns from a person who is facing an order of protection. Balancing the safety concerns of domestic violence victims and police attempting to remove these firearms has proven difficult, as the legislation waits in committee.
Gov. JB Pritzker supports the legislation, but also sees the concerns.
"In the instance where you’ve got to go confiscate the firearm, literally you have to bring sometimes four officers to one situation in order to remove the weapon," he said at an unrelated press conference earlier last week. "And if somebody doesn’t want to give it to you, it becomes quite complicated and maybe dangerous.”
Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Fixing 'broken' system, advocates stand behind cashless bail in Illinois
