With the recent implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act, Illinois has become the first state in the United States to eliminate cash bail in all cases. This significant move ensures that individuals accused of a crime will no longer be held in jail for weeks or months simply because they lack the financial means to secure their release. The act also introduces a range of other changes aimed at centering safety and fairness in the pretrial decision-making process.
For years, advocates have called for reforms to Illinois’ pretrial processes, highlighting their failure to adequately assess safety and protect the rights of people accused of crimes. They pointed out how these processes perpetuated unnecessary pretrial incarceration and neglected victims' needs. A diverse group of stakeholders supported eliminating cash bail due to its tendency to condition pretrial release on wealth access rather than safety considerations. These stakeholders included people directly affected by the bail process, survivors of crime, reform advocates, legislators, and other elected and government officials.
The Pretrial Fairness Act's implementation began across Illinois on September 18, 2023, more than two years after its initial passage in the Illinois legislature. This marked a significant milestone towards creating a safe and just pretrial process. The Act aims to improve safety and justice throughout Illinois’ pretrial system and could potentially serve as a model for positive pretrial reforms nationwide.
Cash bail practices unjustly subject innocent people to incarceration and perpetuate racial injustices. Numerous studies have demonstrated that cash bail practices contribute significantly to racial inequities in pretrial outcomes. Black people are 3.6 percent more likely to be assigned cash bail than their white counterparts, have average bail assignments that are $9,923 higher, and are more likely to be incarcerated pretrial.
The Pretrial Fairness Act improves safety by centering it in the pretrial process through individualized assessments. Under this Act, assigning cash bail arbitrarily will be replaced by individual assessments that allow judges to better assess the safety concerns in each case. This enables judges to assign conditions of release that will best promote safety and appearance in court.
The Act also protects crime survivors by requiring them to receive timely notification of any hearing about pretrial release. It gives them the ability to file for protective measures, including orders of protection, civil no-contact orders, or stalking no-contact orders, at each court date to ensure their safety.
While it will take time for the Pretrial Fairness Act to take full effect across Illinois, early returns are promising. Multiple counties have experienced a decrease in the number of jail bookings and average daily jail populations. In Cook County, the average length of time spent on each case has increased, suggesting a more thorough consideration of safety and equity concerns.
As the Pretrial Fairness Act takes effect, attention must now shift towards ensuring its full implementation and protection against unnecessary and harmful rollbacks that could further undermine the safety and equity of the pretrial process.
