A new law in Illinois has been coined the "Purge law." The Safe-T Act will take effect in 2023 and has a provision called the Pretrial Fairness Act, which eliminates bond. Many people believe the law will allow criminals to run free.
Some state politicians, like Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine, claim the law creates a new category of crimes for which the accused cannot be held on bail before trial.
"And those crimes are serious crimes," he said. "Those crimes include second-degree murder, robbery, burglary, arson, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm."
However, according to an article from Block Club Chicago, a lot of fears and claims about the law are overblown, and have been stoked by misinformed posts on TikTok and Instagram. Rather than putting all suspects in jail and setting bond, judges now will be able to determine if a suspect should be held in jail on a case-by-case basis. The law states, "Detention only shall be imposed when it is determined that the defendant poses a specific, real and present threat to a person, or has a high likelihood of willful flight."
The Block Club Chicago authors write, "The law eliminates cash bail as a standard, but a judge still can detain someone depending on the criminal charges."
The article adds that criminals who use a gun will likely also have a gun possession charge, which is a detainable offense. In addition, they write that people are not commonly charged with kidnapping (a non-detainable offense), but are more often charged with aggravated kidnapping, which is detainable.
Simply put, if a judge determines a suspect is a risk to their community, they can keep them in jail. But if a judge determines a suspect is not a risk, they are free to go until their court date.
Some people have also claimed that when the law takes effect, people in jail will immediately be able to leave. Block Club Chicago clarified that "the court will take steps to address previous orders if they have determined that the law has changed."
The law was passed in an effort to make sure that people aren't kept in jail simply because they can't afford to pay their bond.
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