Illinois is set to eliminate cash bail next year. That means judge’s will no longer be able to ask defendants to pay money in order to leave jail, while they await trial. Instead, a judge will decide who stays behind bars based on their alleged offense and the risk they may flee or pose a danger.
But some lawmakers are worried crime will spike-- with more people out of jail. They have said they’d like to see big changes to the law before it goes into effect January 1. There has been lots of heated rhetoric -- and lots of misinformation. WBEZ’s Shannon Heffernan sat down with Dave Olson, criminologist at Loyola University, who has been trying to to cut through that noise.