President Donald Trump blasted “no cash bail” policies and cities and states that have implemented them during a Monday press conference in Washington.
The president announced a sweeping federalization of the city’s police department, with federal agents and National Guard members expected to assist in patrols in an effort to reduce crime in the city.
So what is “no cash bail”? Why did Illinois and other governmental bodies implement bail reform? What are some of the arguments for and against it?
Here is a rundown of what to know.
What is “no cash bail”?
According to the Colorado Judicial Branch, “cash bond” or “cash bail” involves a defendant in a criminal case paying a specific amount of money in order to be released from custody pending a trial.
Typically, those bond or bail amounts are set at higher levels for more serious crimes, and in especially violent cases, bond or bail can be denied entirely.
That bond represents an agreement that the individual will appear in court to face the criminal charges, and represents a financial punishment should they fail to do so. Cash bail is a common tool used in such cases, but property can also be used in lieu of cash in most situations.
Illinois became the first state in the U.S. to eliminate cash bail entirely when it did so under the auspices of the SAFE-T Act, which officially became law in September 2023 after numerous legal challenges.
Some cities and counties had already banned the practice or had significantly reduced it, including New York City and Cook County.
How does “no cash bail” work?
The state allows judges to determine whether individuals accused of a specific set of felonies and violent misdemeanors pose a risk to another individual, or to the community at large.
Judges are also tasked with determining if a defendant poses a flight risk if released.
If the judge makes any of those determinations, then they may opt to hold a defendant pretrial in a detention facility.
The list of so-called “forcible felonies” that could invite judicial discretion on pretrial detention originally included first and second-degree murder, predatory criminal sexual assault, robbery, burglary, residential burglary, aggravated arson, arson, kidnapping, aggravated battery resulting in great bodily harm, or any other felony that involves the use or threat of physical force or violence against an individual.
Hate crimes, attempts of crimes that are detainable, animal torture and DUI causing great bodily harm were added to the list in a subsequent amendment to the legislation.
How did Republicans challenge the legality of the bill?
Republicans blasted the bill on multiple fronts, arguing that it eliminated judicial discretion, that the list of detainable offenses wasn’t broad enough, and even that the idea of eliminating cash bail was a Constitutional issue within the state of Illinois.
The state’s Supreme Court rejected those arguments in its 2023 opinion on the matter, allowing the SAFE-T Act to go into effect.
“The Illinois Constitution of 1970 does not mandate that monetary bail is the only means to ensure criminal defendants appear for trials or the only means to protect the public,” the court concluded at the time. “Our constitution creates a balance between the individual rights of defendants and the individual rights of crime victims. The Act’s pretrial release provisions set forth procedures commensurate with that balance. For the reasons that we have stated, we reverse the circuit court’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs.”
What did President Trump say about no-cash bail?
This week, President Donald Trump announced he was placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under federal control in an attempt to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor.”
He specifically called out cities and states that had implemented bail reform, including Chicago.
“Every place in the country where you have no cash bail is a disaster,” Trump said. “That’s what started it in Chicago. I mean, bad politicians started it, bad leadership started it, but that was the one thing that’s central, no cash bail. Someone murders somebody and they’re out on no cash bail before the day is out. We’re gonna end that in Chicago. We’re gonna change the statute.”
It’s unclear how the president would aim to amend state law, and such a move would certainly be subject to vigorous legal appeals.
Murder is considered a “forcible felony” in the state of Illinois, and is considered a detainable offense under provisions of the SAFE-T Act. The president did not provide any specific examples of defendants in Cook County being released pretrial who had been charged with murder.
What are some of the arguments for and against no-cash bail?
Proponents of bail reform argue that cash bail disproportionately punishes poorer residents who can’t afford to pay their bond even for non-violent or less-serious offenses.
The American Civil Liberties Union also argues that cash bail violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and the ban on excessive bail found in the Eighth Amendment, and has filed numerous lawsuits on both fronts.
Critics of bail reform say it limits judicial discretion to an unfair degree, and also allows some individuals accused of felonies to remain free because of non-detainable offenses listed under state law.
The biggest criticism of the bill is that it encourages recidivism, and that those released under the law are more prone to committing crimes while out of police custody.
Studies conducted by the Center for American Progress found that those who await trial outside of detention are “no more likely to be re-arrested after bail reform” than they were prior to its introduction in places like New York, Washington, D.C. and in Cook County, among other locales.
CAP also found that more than 95% of crime in the U.S. is nonviolent, and that 80% of people in local jails have not been convicted of a crime, with soaring rates of imprisonment sparked by more defendants being detained pretrial.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/KX6Fs8b
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