Your turn: We stand together, celebrating the end of cash bail in Illinois
As faith leaders from the Rockford region, we are united in celebrating the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Pretrial Fairness Act.
Ending the injustice of the money bond system is a significant moral victory that makes our state a leader in the movement to end mass incarceration.
For years, advocates have been working to make needed changes to a criminal legal system that disproportionately punishes the poorest of our friends and neighbors.
Today is a day of rejoicing when we see righteousness triumphing over fear-mongering and justice winning out over antiquated and ineffective carceral policies.
More: Judge's ruling on cash bail could create two pretrial systems in Illinois
In Illinois, the great majority of the quarter million people incarcerated in county jails each year were imprisoned because they were unable to pay a money bond to secure their release while awaiting trial. Prior to the Pretrial Fairness Act, families had to make the difficult choices of paying money bonds or paying for daily expenses such as groceries or rent.
We have heard the stories of those who have lost their livelihoods even without ever being convicted of a crime because extremely high money bonds were set.
The current system is prioritizing people’s access to wealth over public safety. Right now, the size of a person’s bank account is the main factor determining who is jailed and who is released while awaiting trial. For the same accusation, poor people were imprisoned or had to divert money from their already tight budget to pay the money bond while wealthy people paid the money bond without relative loss.
Rather than making the community safer, pretrial incarceration destabilizes communities by causing people to lose their jobs, their homes and even the custody of their children, all before they have been proven guilty. Additionally, the state extracts millions of dollars from the poor if they are able to scrounge up enough money to free their unjustly incarcerated loved ones.
It should also be noted that, due to racial profiling and the unjustified disparity between rates of incarceration among white people and people of color, especially Black Illinoisians, this community destabilization and wealth extraction disproportionately affects people of color.
Both the Hebrew Bible and Christian New Testament call us to bring good news to the poor, release to the prisoners, and liberation for the oppressed, and indeed we are witnessing those today.
The end of money bond is very good news for the poor because it ensures that the amount of money a person has will no longer be what determines their freedom. Because people accused of crimes will now have stronger hearing processes and the specific circumstances of every case will be even more carefully considered, communities will be safer.
The Pretrial Fairness Act promotes the freedom, equality and justice that each individual deserves under the law and decreases the disparities exacerbated by the old system.
We applaud the work of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice and communities across the state of Illinois who are making this advancement in civil liberties possible. We stand firmly behind our state legislators who had the moral courage to advocate for the end of money bond, and especially thank State Reps. Maurice West and Dave Vella, and State Sen. Steve Stadelman for listening to their constituents and making this change to our justice system.
One day when we look back on the days when the sinful practice of money bond was still legal, we’ll be proud to say we were on the side of civil rights and freedom, and we pray you’ll be able to say the same.
The Rev. Violet Johnicker, Brooke Road United Methodist Church
The Rev. Dr. Marlene Walker, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rock Valley
The Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson, The Unitarian Universalist Church, Rockford
The Rev. Dr. K. Edward Copeland, New Zion Baptist Church
The Rev. Frank Langholf, Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Rockford
The Rev. Dr. Eric Lemonholm, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Rockford
The Rev. Stephen Bowie, Third Presbyterian Church, Rockford
The Rev. David Jones
The Rev. Rebecca White Newgren
The Rev. Sonji Collins, House of God Church, Rockford
Rabbi Binah Wing
The Rev. Diane Tomlinson Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Rockford
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Your turn: We stand together, celebrating end of cash bail in Illinois
