We Protected the Pretrial Fairness Act!

The Pretrial Fairness Act was designed to protect an individual’s right to the presumption of innocence and to address racial disparities in our pretrial system. Once implemented on January 1, 2023, the Pretrial Fairness Act will eliminate the use of cash bail and take a step toward a more equitable criminal justice system by reducing the number of people in jail simply because they cannot post bond.

Now is the time to take action to ensure the Pretrial Fairness Act is implemented as intended! Here are two opportunities to help advance the Pretrial Fairness Act:  

1.  Train to be a court watcher in DuPage, Kane, McLean, Peoria, Sangamon, and Winnebago counties in January, 2023. More details are to come about opportunities to court watch in Cook County.  

2.  Volunteer or donate to Chicago Community Jail Support. Donations will be used to purchase winter coats, gift cards for groceries, and other essential items. Volunteers are also needed to assist individuals being released from prison with rides or other support. 

By working together, we eliminated cash bond!

Earlier this year, the implementation of this bill faced challenges from lawmakers who proposed amendments to this legislation that would cause even greater harm to those in pretrial detention. Biased media coverage and television ads, fear mongering techniques, political rhetoric, and a misinformation campaign spread lies and incited concerns about the Pretrial Fairness Act in an attempt to roll back the bill’s provisions or repeal it all together.  

However, Community Renewal Society member congregations, community leaders, organizations and advocates of the Pretrial Fairness Act stood strong with their activism in support of this bill.  

On October 20, 2022, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice released a letter opposing SB4228. SB4228 proposed amendments to the Pretrial Fairness Act known as the SAFE-T Act Trailer Bill that would cause significant harm by denying all Illinoisians fundamental constitutional rights and further fueling mass incarceration and racial and economic disparities. If passed, SB4228 would create an even worse pretrial legal system.  

The Coalition to End Money Bond, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, and CRS have worked to defeat the threats to the Pretrial Fairness Act. Our efforts included promoting and sending people to Springfield early for veto sessions from November 15 to November 7 and November 29 to December 1. We also urged letter and email writing against the trailer senate bill. We still encourage people to share news that involves CRS and use the hashtag #EndMoneyBail.  

During the last day of the November veto sessions, Springfield legislators approved minor changes to the Pretrial Fairness Act to address the public’s concerns about this controversial bill. The amendment to the SAFE-T Act clarifies the language of the Pretrial Fairness Act and gives detained defendants the option to have their case remain under the old cash bail system or move to the new system. Another tweak is that the bill outlines a new list of detainable offenses as well as what the transition from the current system of cash bail to the new system is expected to look like. The amendment, House Bill 1095 Senate Amendment 2, passed through the House of Representatives with 71 votes and in the Senate with 38 yes votes.  

Visit the Coalition to End Money Bond’s website for more updates on the Pretrial Fairness Act implementation. Follow CRS on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to be informed about other work to reform the criminal justice system.