Advocates and opponents of Pretrial Fairness Act in Illinois spar in local town hall

Divergent opinions on the Pretrial Fairness Act, a provision of the SAFE-T Act that will end cash bail in Illinois on Jan. 1, have been commonplace since its inception and in 2022 statewide campaigns. A Wednesday evening town hall at the Piper Glen Golf Club proved to be much the same.

State Sen. Steve McClure and state Rep. Sandy Hamilton, both Springfield Republicans, were joined by Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell and state's attorneys Dan Wright and Gray Noll of Morgan County during a question and answer session before a standing-room-only crowd.

Early in the meeting, members of the Faith Coalition for the Common Good rose from their seats and began chanting in defense of the PFA — claiming information being presented by the speakers was actually disinformation.

Such chants as "justice is under attack, keep the SAFE-T Act," were met with vocal dismissal from the audience sometimes in the form of expletives. Others called for the group to leave, including McClure, but the group remained for the entirety of the meeting which lasted for about 90 minutes.

Others are reading:There's more than no cash bail in Illinois' pretrial detention system overhaul

"These people (the audience) did not come here to hear you speak," McClure told the members of the Faith Coalition. "They came here for a discussion about the issues."

The Faith Coalition members attended the meeting with signs expressing their support and passed out literature about why the PFA is essential criminal justice reform.

"By passing the Pretrial Fairness Act, the Illinois legislature took a significant step toward addressing the harm pretrial incarceration has caused communities across our state," the Springfield-based nonprofit group said in a statement.

Temperatures eventually did cool ever so slightly, although a few outbursts did resurface, following this portion to begin the meeting. With some provisions of the SAFE-T Act already in place, discussion transitioned as to how this 764-page piece of legislation has impacted law enforcement, its overall constitutionality, and what possible reforms are needed.

What impact would the PFA have on jail populations?

A claim seen by many PFA opponents is that county jail populations will see significant reductions once it goes into effect in January 2023. However when asked on Wednesday, Campbell said it was still undetermined whether those incarcerated prior to Jan. 1 would be let out retroactively.

Still, having to "prepare for the worst," the sheriff recounted the number of people currently in the Sangamon County Jail and gave an assessment. Looking at county jail statistics from August, he said approximately 100 out of the approximate 330 inmates in the county jail could be let out.

"That's about a third of the jail, but again that may not happen," Campbell said, who previously joined with Wright in a lawsuit against the state over the SAFE-T Act. On Thursday, Sangamon and 57 other counties filed a motion of consolidation with the Illinois Supreme Court, who will decide whether the motions carries. "We have to prepare ourselves and all of you for the worst case scenario."

Proponents of the PFA replied that the current system sees many without the resources to meet bail languish behind bars. The standard of "innocent until proven guilty," is violated in their opinion.

Noll said state statute allows for a maximum of 120 days in pretrial detention, a comment that some audience members disputed. Even if the four-month standard is applied, proponents said this amount of time can still cause an individual to lose a job and housing.

Campbell said sheriffs across the state are experiencing overcrowding in their county jails, and many do not want to keep people in jail if they are not a threat. Referencing a commonly shared anecdote of a "single mother shoplifting diapers," the sheriff said offenders like these are not in the Sangamon County Jail.

"We don't keep anybody on a non-violent misdemeanor," he said. "The minute they walk-in, they get finger-printed, photographed, we give them a notice to appear."

Are reforms or an outright repeal needed?

Addressing a well-circulated meme, which claims a list of non-detainable offenses such as second-degree murder, burglary and kidnapping, Wright said that list was not accurate.

What does exist are crimes that are not detainable, which the state's attorney said are misdemeanor offenses or Class 4 felonies not explicitly written in the bill. According to McClure, these crimes and forcible felonies eligible for probation are a wide list including many of those aforementioned offenses.

Two standards could keep those accused of a probational forcible felony in custody: the willful flight standard and the present danger test. Both Wright and McClure argue that these standards are too vague, which hinders a judge's ability to assess whether or not someone should be detained pretrial.

The state's attorney said there is an argument for ending cash bail, but had concerns as to how the bill as written limits what judges are allowed and not allowed to do in regard to danger assessment.

"I think we can eliminate that (cash bail) and still ensure public safety, but the way to do that is not by depriving judges of their discretion to assess danger to the community," he said.

Last week's ACLU of Illinois PFA forum held at the Lincoln Library addressed the danger standard as well, but noted how the definition varied from what page it is read.

In order to deny a pretrial release, page 336 of the act says a judge can only impose detention "when it is determined that the defendant poses a specific, real and present threat to a person, or has a high likelihood of willful flight."

However, page 374 finds that the "identity of the specific person or persons" that the state believes the defendant poses a danger to must be named to deny pretrial release. Instead of a specific individual, Ben Ruddell with the ACLU said the bill should refer to a specific threat.

Emerging conversation statewide is regarding Senate Bill 4228, legislation introduced by Democratic Sen. Scott Bennett that would allow judges to "deny pretrial release for any alleged crime if the person arrested poses a threat to the safety of any person or the community" according to a press release from his office.

Related:ACLU: Pretrial Fairness Act needs reform, not complete overhaul

During this week's debate, Gov. JB Pritzker again signaled support for reform of the SAFE-T Act while his opponent, Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey, is in favor of repeal. Other advocacy groups are not open to the reforms mentioned in Bennett's bill. Those reforms may heard during the upcoming veto session.

In its statement, the Faith Coalition said it is against any efforts to repeal or roll back the PFA as this bill "would further fuel mass incarceration, worsen racial disparities, and create a pretrial system that is far worse than the one in place today." Other groups such as the ACLU of Illinois have also come out in opposition to SB 4228.

McClure, when asked his position on the bill, said the governor should call a special session if he really wants to see it passed before Jan. 1.

Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Advocates, opponents of Pretrial Fairness Act spar in meeting