Illinois becomes first state in nation today to eliminate cash bail. Here’s how it will work.
It’s been two years since the Pretrial Fairness Act was passed, but questions remain on who will be jailed and who will not.
Illinois becomes the first state in the nation today to completely remove cash bail as a condition to be released ahead of a criminal trial.
Here’s how the new system will work, and some of the questions still to be answered.
Who will not be jailed?
Under the new law, people who are charged with the state’s lowest level offenses will likely never set foot in a jail cell, including at a police station after their arrest.
People charged with an offense lower than a Class A misdemeanor — littering, some speeding charges and possession of marijuana over the legal limit — will likely be released with a citation and a court date without having to be processed at a police station.
In these cases, people usually face no more than six months in prison if convicted and often are released on probation without any incarceration.
However, law enforcement agencies will still be given discretion in certain cases. For example, if a person continues to commit the offense after being cited, they can be taken into custody and held until they appear before a judge, which must occur within 24 hours.
People can also be taken into custody if they can’t be properly identified, or if police believe a person poses a danger to the community or themselves. Police will have to explain their decision to hold the person.
What about more serious misdemeanors?
Class A misdemeanor offenses are slightly more serious, but still cover a lot of ground. They include shoplifting, simple battery, trespassing in a car or on property, possessing alcohol as a minor and street racing.
A person facing a Class A misdemeanor will be arrested and taken to a police station for booking, but should be released with a future court date instead of being taken to jail.
The first question for authorities is whether, under the law, the offense allows the judge to jail someone. For example, a judge can detain a person accused of domestic violence, even when the person is charged with a misdemeanor.
If the offense is not included on the list of detainable offenses, there is an expectation the person will be released without any conditions and given a date to appear in court. As with the lesser offenses, police agencies will still have leeway in deciding if a person poses a risk to the community or themselves if released.
If the offense is on the list of detainable charges, a person must be brought before a judge for an initial hearing within 24 hours. The accused has the right to make at least three calls within three hours to communicate with their family or an attorney. Police are required to post this information in a place where people who have been detained will see it and are required to document the calls or explain why no calls were made.
What about felony charges?
A person charged with a felony can face a year or more in prison if convicted, but many felony charges can also result in probation, meaning a person wouldn’t necessarily face jail time if convicted.
Under the law, many felonies are not detainable. These tend to be cases that don’t include allegations of violence, including gun possession without the proper permit.
If a case is not eligible for detention, a person might be released from the police station after booking. But they can also be held and brought before a judge within 24 hours.
At that hearing, a judge will decide the conditions under which a person will be released. Those can include a requirement that the defendant be placed on electronic monitoring, be subjected to a curfew or required to submit to drug testing.
Those conditions, including electronic monitoring, are subject to review and can be changed later. Judges are supposed to set the least restrictive conditions possible to ensure a person appears in court for hearings and doesn’t commit new crimes.
What’s the process for jailing someone?
If a felony charge is a detainable offense, it will be up to prosecutors to decide whether to ask a judge to hold the person in custody. If prosecutors don’t seek to detain the person, the person will be released with conditions the judge determines are necessary for compliance.
If a person is charged with a detainable offense — which includes murder, sex crimes and domestic battery and largely other crimes of violence — and prosecutors seek detention, the person will be brought before a judge within 24 hours for a detention hearing.
At that hearing, prosecutors and defense attorneys will make arguments to the judge. Prosecutors must provide clear and convincing evidence that a person poses a public safety or flight risk, which is a lower standard than the proof beyond a reasonable doubt to find someone guilty.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys can also ask for more time to hold the hearing and can be given a 24- to 48-hour extension. Defendants can also call witnesses to testify on their behalf, though a court can block someone from calling a complaining witness.
Victims will be given notice of the hearings by prosecutors and will get information on how to file an order of protection. If a person is released and violates an order of protection, prosecutors can file for detention and a judge can use that violation — as well as other violations of their conditions — to decide that the person should be detained.
Judges must make their findings in writing with an explanation of how they ruled, and are required to continue to find that the need for detention still exists at future hearings.
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Illinois becomes first state in nation today to eliminate cash bail. Here’s how it will work.
It’s been two years since the Pretrial Fairness Act was passed, but questions remain on who will be jailed and who will not.
Illinois becomes the first state in the nation today to completely remove cash bail as a condition to be released ahead of a criminal trial.
Here’s how the new system will work, and some of the questions still to be answered.
Who will not be jailed?
Under the new law, people who are charged with the state’s lowest level offenses will likely never set foot in a jail cell, including at a police station after their arrest.
People charged with an offense lower than a Class A misdemeanor — littering, some speeding charges and possession of marijuana over the legal limit — will likely be released with a citation and a court date without having to be processed at a police station.
In these cases, people usually face no more than six months in prison if convicted and often are released on probation without any incarceration.
However, law enforcement agencies will still be given discretion in certain cases. For example, if a person continues to commit the offense after being cited, they can be taken into custody and held until they appear before a judge, which must occur within 24 hours.
People can also be taken into custody if they can’t be properly identified, or if police believe a person poses a danger to the community or themselves. Police will have to explain their decision to hold the person.
What about more serious misdemeanors?
Class A misdemeanor offenses are slightly more serious, but still cover a lot of ground. They include shoplifting, simple battery, trespassing in a car or on property, possessing alcohol as a minor and street racing.
A person facing a Class A misdemeanor will be arrested and taken to a police station for booking, but should be released with a future court date instead of being taken to jail.
The first question for authorities is whether, under the law, the offense allows the judge to jail someone. For example, a judge can detain a person accused of domestic violence, even when the person is charged with a misdemeanor.
If the offense is not included on the list of detainable offenses, there is an expectation the person will be released without any conditions and given a date to appear in court. As with the lesser offenses, police agencies will still have leeway in deciding if a person poses a risk to the community or themselves if released.
If the offense is on the list of detainable charges, a person must be brought before a judge for an initial hearing within 24 hours. The accused has the right to make at least three calls within three hours to communicate with their family or an attorney. Police are required to post this information in a place where people who have been detained will see it and are required to document the calls or explain why no calls were made.
What about felony charges?
A person charged with a felony can face a year or more in prison if convicted, but many felony charges can also result in probation, meaning a person wouldn’t necessarily face jail time if convicted.
Under the law, many felonies are not detainable. These tend to be cases that don’t include allegations of violence, including gun possession without the proper permit.
If a case is not eligible for detention, a person might be released from the police station after booking. But they can also be held and brought before a judge within 24 hours.
At that hearing, a judge will decide the conditions under which a person will be released. Those can include a requirement that the defendant be placed on electronic monitoring, be subjected to a curfew or required to submit to drug testing.
Those conditions, including electronic monitoring, are subject to review and can be changed later. Judges are supposed to set the least restrictive conditions possible to ensure a person appears in court for hearings and doesn’t commit new crimes.
What’s the process for jailing someone?
If a felony charge is a detainable offense, it will be up to prosecutors to decide whether to ask a judge to hold the person in custody. If prosecutors don’t seek to detain the person, the person will be released with conditions the judge determines are necessary for compliance.
If a person is charged with a detainable offense — which includes murder, sex crimes and domestic battery and largely other crimes of violence — and prosecutors seek detention, the person will be brought before a judge within 24 hours for a detention hearing.
At that hearing, prosecutors and defense attorneys will make arguments to the judge. Prosecutors must provide clear and convincing evidence that a person poses a public safety or flight risk, which is a lower standard than the proof beyond a reasonable doubt to find someone guilty.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys can also ask for more time to hold the hearing and can be given a 24- to 48-hour extension. Defendants can also call witnesses to testify on their behalf, though a court can block someone from calling a complaining witness.
Victims will be given notice of the hearings by prosecutors and will get information on how to file an order of protection. If a person is released and violates an order of protection, prosecutors can file for detention and a judge can use that violation — as well as other violations of their conditions — to decide that the person should be detained.
Judges must make their findings in writing with an explanation of how they ruled, and are required to continue to find that the need for detention still exists at future hearings.
Speaker 1: WBEZ features is supported by the poetry foundation, presenting poetry events with artists including Ben Pokery, Deshun Smith, Chemie Lobby and Chicago poet laureate Avery are Young plus an Awl poetry library and a new exhibition on Harriet Monroe who founded poetry magazine in Chicago in 1912. All open to the public details at the poetry foundation dot org slash visit.
Speaker 2: This is WBEZ. There was no bond court in the Cook County Criminal Courthouse today. Instead there were first appearances and detention hearings. It's one of the many changes prompted by illinois' historic decision to outlaw the use of cash bail across the state. Matthew Hendrickson is a reporter with the Chicago Sun Times. He covers the Cook County courts and today he has been watching very closely as court actors figure out a new process of making pretrial decisions. He joins me now from the courthouse at 26 in California. Good afternoon, Matthew. Good afternoon. Thanks for having me. Of course, busy day for you. So let's set the stage a bit here. Illinois is the very first day to end the use of cash bail. I guess. What does that mean in practical terms within the courthouses.
Speaker 3: Sure. So bail was meant to do two things essentially to ensure that someone shows up for court appearances in the future and that they dont commit new offenses while they're waiting for their first case to get resolved. Critics of cash bail would say that the, that the second one is in very good, the ability to post money isn't a very good guaranty for the second one. this law that Illinois past covers a lot of ground, but the big change that's gotten the most attention is just the judge is can no longer ask a criminal defendant to post money as a condition of their release to make sure that they show up for court in the future. So previously, a judge might say that a person needed to post something like $1000 to be released from jail while their case continued, um which set up a system where some people can afford to do that and other people couldn't, and then they would end up staying in a jail because of it. Under the new law, judges can't do that anymore, but they can stil set conditions for um that a person has two follow when they're released. One of those, for example, is electronic monitoring
Speaker 2: and it seems like given the timeline of this since it got pushed back, Cook County leaders had more time than anticipated two prepare for this big change. So how did they
Speaker 3: correct cash bail was initially supposed to be eliminated on January 1st of this year, which would have given the circuit courts about two years after the law was passed to get ready for it. But a lawsuit that challenged the law's constitutionality led the Supreme court, the state Supreme Court to hit the pause button for a little while while they reviewed it. Um, they found unconstitutional earlier this summer and today Monday was given the new date for implementation. So they got an extra like nine months. Um, and basically courthouse inhibitors that I've talked to in various circuit courts across the Chicago region all said they just basically been holding a lot of meetings getting ready for it.
Speaker 2: So based on what you observed today, how's it gon
Speaker 3: as with any big change? I think you can be prepared for it. But of course, um, um, the unexpected is going to come up once it's actually tested in the real world. And we saw that a bit today with some courthouse personnel using, um, some old terminology and then getting corrected hearings went a little bit slower and there were times when prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge would have a little discussion about, you know, how the correct process should go, what timelines for cases looked like. But largely I would say that things went fairly smoothly and it wasn't substantially different from how court used to work.
Speaker 2: Yeah, given that this is your beat, you certainly observed a lot of bond hearings. What has stood out to you is maybe the biggest difference or some of the biggest differences within the new system.
Speaker 3: Sure. I think, I think the biggest thing is that it really wasn't that different defendants that would have been released on a cash bail if they have been able to post that previously. Um, we're likely to get released today just with different conditions. Um, some of them being electronic monitoring or maybe they would just have to check in with the court's pretrial services office which helps gives them some structure and remind them of when court hearings might come up. Um Today, we probably saw prosecutors filing some more requests to judge is to hold a person in jail for the length of their case than we normally would. But judges also didn't agree to that in every single case and have released some of those people with conditions showing that the judges are really looking at the case individually what the defendant's background is and then making a determination that way
Speaker 2: and more to come. That was Chicago's Sun Times reporter Matthew Hendrickson from the courthouse at 26 and California. Thanks Matthew. Thank you. You're listening to WBEZ Moore of all things considered continues in just a moment. Stay with us.
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