The American Civil Liberties Union says it’s confident that cash bail will eventually be eliminated in all of Illinois - despite a Kankakee judge’s ruling Wednesday that struck down key parts of the SAFE-T Act in dozens of counties, days before they were to take effect.
One of the issues the judge had with the elimination of cash bail: That it’s taking constitutionally granted powers away from judges to set bail.
“We don’t think that argument has a lot of merit,” said Ben Ruddell, director of criminal justice policy at the ACLU of Illinois.
Also, Ben Ruddell, director of criminal justice policy at the ACLU of Illinois, says the judge sided with the state’s attorneys who were plaintiffs in the lawsuit - agreeing that the constitution enshrines the practice of monetary bail by mentioning the word “bailable.”
“It’s not a word that means monetary bail specifically. So I think the judge got it wrong on that portion of the order as well,” Ruddell said.
Ruddell says the ACLU is encouraged that the Illinois attorney general is appealing the judge’s ruling.
As far how Cook County - Illinois’ largest county - will be affected: Ruddell says he expects the elimination of cash bail will go ahead.
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