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SPRINGFIELD — One year after Illinois became the first state in the nation to eliminate the use of cash bail, the impact on the state’s criminal justice system appears to have been far less dramatic than people on either side of the debate had predicted. That, at least, is the early indication from an analysis of data being monitored by the Center for Criminal Justice at Loyola University in Chicago. Loyola University of Chicago Center for Criminal Justice Co-Director David Olson speaks at an event in Springfield about the one-year anniversary of the Pretrial Fairness Act.
“Jail populations did go down a bit, but nowhere near as much as some people were predicting, and the research suggests that the rate at which people are being released from jail pretrial likely hasn't changed dramatically,” David Olson, a co-director of the center, said during an interview this week. “What's changing is that the means of release are changing,” he added. “People don't have to post the money, and rather than being released in a few days when they come up with the money, they're being released in a day or two.
” The law to end cash bail in Illinois passed the General Assembly during a special lame-duck session in January 2021. Known as the Pretrial Fairness Act, it was part of a broader criminal justice reform package known as the SAFE-T Act that was backed by the Legislative Black Caucus. Those measures passed during a period of social unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police the previous summer.
But the push to reform the cash bond system in Illinois had begun years earlier. In 2017, the Illinois Supreme Court formed a Commission on Pretrial Practices, charging it with studying and making recommendations about comprehensive pretrial reform. That commission issued a report in April 2020, a full month before Floyd’s murder.
In that report, the commission noted there was already a “growing national movement” underway focused on eliminating cash bail as a means of securing a defendant’s appearance in court because it resulted in people being detained in jail, sometimes for lengthy periods of time while awaiting trial, solely because of their inability to pay a cash bond. The report called for a new pretrial system in which only people charged with specific violent offenses would be held while awaiting trial. It further recommended detention only if prosecutors could show they posed an “unmanageable level of risk” that they would commit more offenses while on release and that no conditions or set of conditions could be attached to their release that would mitigate that risk.
The law passed the General Assembly on Jan. 13, 2021. Gov.
JB Pritzker signed it into law Feb. 22, prompting a flurry of lawsuits in circuit courts throughout the state by county sheriffs and state’s attorneys who challenged its constitutionality. In December 2022, Pritzker signed an amendment to the original law that clarified which individuals and what crimes would be eligible for detention.
Then, just before the law was set to go into effect later that month, the Supreme Court put it on hold while it considered those challenges. But in a 5-2 ruling in July 2023, the court rejected those challenges, upheld the law as constitutional and cleared the way for it to go into effect 60 days later, on Sept. 18, 2023.
In advance of the one-year anniversary of the new law, the Center for Criminal Justice released preliminary data from its ongoing effort to monitor the law’s impact. One of the first things researchers noticed, Olson said, is that detention hearings now take considerably more time than they used to. In urban counties that handle large numbers of criminal cases, he said, the median length of a detention hearing went from four minutes before the law took effect to 16 minutes under the new rules.
Researchers also noticed a change in the issues discussed during those hearings. Before the new law, Olson said, most of the discussion centered on the offense being charged and the defendant’s criminal history. But since the new law went into effect, he said there is more focus on the strength of the evidence against the defendant as well as the risk the defendant poses to other individuals.
Also, he said, judges have begun providing more specific, detailed explanations for their decisions about whether to hold a defendant or place conditions on their release. “Part of that is likely because this is a new law,” he said. “There are a lot of legal challenges on individual cases as to whether or not the person should have been detained, and it's likely the judges are trying to establish a clear record for those subsequent appeals.
But part of it is also that the expectations of what is considered during the decision to detain are much more clearly articulated in the law, and the judge is likely trying to ensure that they kind of touch on all those things that have to be considered.” But one issue that no longer comes up during detention hearings, he said, is money. “Prior to the law going into effect, statewide about $140 million each year was paid by defendants in the form of posting money to secure their pretrial release,” he said.
“No longer are they posting money to secure their pretrial release. So, $140 million is now remaining in the community.” Meanwhile, Olson said, the research so far has not shown any significant change in the percentage of people who fail to appear for subsequent court hearings.
Before the new law, he said, the failure-to-appear rate hovered around 17%, and since the law took effect it has been “statistically very similar,” at about 15%. In addition, he said, the research so far has not documented any increase in crime as a result of defendants being released without posting bond. “We can't say whether it's had an impact on crime,” Olson said.
“But what we can say is, during the first six months of 2023 compared to the first six months of 2024, crime is not up in Illinois. It's not up in Chicago. It's not up in other urban areas.
It's not up in rural areas. It's not up for violent crime. It's not up for property crime.
” Olson emphasized that the findings so far are only preliminary because the law is still new and many of the most serious criminal cases that have been filed in the last year are still working their way through the court system. But he said the research so far does appear to indicate that the basic theory behind the old cash bail system — that requiring someone to post a bond was necessary to protect public safety and secure a defendant’s later appearance in court — was fundamentally flawed. “There's plenty of empirical evidence that suggests that people posting money isn't what guaranteed them showing up to court,” he said.
“And part of it is to recognize where the money that they are posting comes from. It's usually not the defendant's money. It's their family's money.
” He noted money used to post bail was often never returned to the defendant under the previous system. “And also the threat of losing your money if you don't show up — for many defendants, they realize that they're not going to see that money ever again, that if they're convicted, that money is going to be used to pay fines and fees, all of which can still be imposed by the by the court,” he said. The Illinois State Archaeological Survey is conducting an excavation in Brooklyn, Illinois.
The aim of the endeavor is to discover and provide physical information that gives the town, founded by freed African Americans in the mid 1800s, a sense of its history by archaeological means. Geneseo students get fired up before the Maple Leafs take on Moline on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, at Bob Reade Field in Geneseo.
Accompanied by The Sound of Geneseo marching band, Geneseo High School senior Hope Kuster sings the national anthem before the Moline-Geneseo football game Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo. The Maplettes join on the Geneseo High School fight song.
The Maplettes join on the Geneseo High School fight song. The Maplettes join on the Geneseo High School fight song. Geneseo's Landry Possin (23) takes a water break before the start of the Maple Leafs' home game against Moline on Friday, Sept.
13, 2024. Moline's Elijah Warren (17) takes a handoff from quarterback Eli Taylor and follows blocker Jenaro Sepeda (72) up the field on the first play from scrimmage Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo.
Warren broke several tackles and got loose for a 53-yard run on the play. Moline's Elijah Warren, right, slips past a tackle attempt by Geneseo's Payton Hofer at the start of a 53-yard run on the first play from scrimmage Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, at Bob Reade Field in Geneseo.
Kye Weinzierl of Geneseo tries to make a diving tackle on Moline's Elijah Warren in the first quarter Friday night in Geneseo. Warren broke free and gained 53 yards, the biggest play on the opening touchdown drive. Moline's Elijah Warren, right, bounces off Geneseo's Keaton Ariano on a 53-yard run Friday.
Moline's Adrian Cooper runs the ball behind Ryne Norin (15) and Jenaro Sepeda (72) and gains 4 yards in the first quarter Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo. Geneseo's Kye Weinzierl (4) puts a move on Moline defender Connor Schnell (21) on a 9-yard run in the first quarter Friday, Sept.
13, 2024, at Bob Reade Field in Geneseo. Kye Weinzierl (4) of Geneseo runs past Moline's Conner Schnell in the first quarter Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo.
Geneseo linemen Jake Stahl (64), Wyatt Neumann (76) and Aaron Betcher (63) take on Moline defenders Jenaro Sepeda (72), Masen Golden (8) and LaTorian Hill (70). Geneseo quarterback Jackson McAvoy, right, takes on Moline's Connor Schnell early in a 25-yard touchdown run on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo.
Geneseo's Jackson McAvoy (14) finds a hole and runs for a 25-yard touchdown to give the Maple Leafs a 14-7 lead with 7:06 left in the first quarter Friday night in Geneseo. Geneseo quarterback Jackson McAvoy runs 25 yards for a tying score with 7:06 left in the first quarter against Moline on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo.
Geneseo quarterback Jackson McAvoy completes a 25-yard touchdown run against Moline on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo. Geneseo lineman Will Baum (67) congratulates quarterback Jackson McAvoy after McAvoy's 25-yard touchdown run in the first quarter Friday, Sept.
13, 2024, in Geneseo. Moline's Marc Cary (27) cuts upfield between Geneseo defenders Payton Hofer, left, and Aden McCann, right, on a 5-yard run in the first quarter Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo.
Moline's Marc Cary (21) moves past Geneseo's Aden McCann (6) on a 5-yard run. Moline's Elijah Warren (17) runs for 7 yards and a first down in the first quarter against Geneseo. Moline's Adrian Cooper is stopped for a 1-yard gain by Geneseo defenders Quinn Vanhyfte (16) and Joshua Anderson (31) on a first-quarter run Friday, Sept.
13, 2024, in Geneseo. Moline offensive linemen Isaiah Bowen (71) and Erik Rosas (77) block Geneseo defenders in the first quarter Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo.
Geneseo's Payton Hofer (21) pressures Moline quarterback Eli Taylor into throwing an incomplete pass Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo. Moline's Corbin Schnell (11) collides with a teammate as they try to stop Geneseo's Kye Weinzierl (4) on 6-yard run in the first quarter Friday night in Geneseo.
Action at the line of scrimmage shows Geneseo's Dylon DeBoef (37), Will Baum (67) and Tyler Chamberlain (70) and blocking Moline players. Moline quarterback Eli Taylor throws a pass for a 22-yard gain on a fourth-down play Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, against host Geneseo.
Kye Weinzierl (4) takes a pitch on a 5-yard loss against Moline on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo. Moline's Marc Cary looks for running room behind teammates Adrian Cooper (4) and Jack Sibley (5) but finds none as he stopped for a 1-yard loss in the second quarter Friday, Sept.
13, 2024, in Geneseo. Jack Sibley (5) of Moline runs around right end for 5 yards on a third-and-9 play against Geneseo in the second quarter Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo.
Moline right tackle Isaiah Bowen (71) and right guard Erik Rosas (77) face off against Geneseo's Reade Murphy (65) as Maroons quarterback Eli Taylor takes the center snap on a fourth-and-4 play in the second quarter Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo. Taylor ran the ball for 6 yards and a first down, and the Maroons scored a tying touchdown on the next play.
Adrian Cooper stretches out the ball as he crosses the goal line for a Moline touchdown with 4:45 left in the second quarter Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo. Moline lineman Jenaro Sepeda (72) hoists Adrian Cooper in the air to celebrate Cooper's 12-yard touchdown run with 4:45 left in the second quarter Friday night in Geneseo.
Moline quarterback Eli Taylor congratulates Adrian Cooper (4) after Cooper's 12-yard touchdown run that tied the score 14-14 in the second quarter Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo. Fireworks fill the sky after a Geneseo touchdown.
Geneseo's Kye Weinzierl walks on the Geneseo sideline after scoring on a 51-yard touchdown run and giving the Maple Leafs a 21-14 lead against Moline with 4:26 left in the first half Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo. Carter Holke (28) watches his extra-point kick sail through the uprights to give Geneseo a 21-14 lead after a second-quarter touchdown against Moline on Friday, Sept.
13, 2024, in Geneseo. Moline's Aiden Larsen (20) is met by Geneseo's Grant Bomleny as Bomleny and teammate Jack Mickley make the tackle on a kickoff return in the second quarter Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.
Moline's Kayden Banker (66) and Geneseo's Reade Murphy (65) battle in the trenches. Moline's Adrian Cooper (4) follows blocker Erik Rosas (77) on what turns into a 40-yard touchdown run that ties the score at 21-21 with 2:02 left in the second quarter against Geneseo on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo.
Moline Adrian Cooper celebrates as he scores late in the first half. Moline's Nolan Ducey kicks off after a touchdown by the Maroons late in the first half on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo.
Geneseo coach Matt Furlong watches the action from the sidelines. Geneseo's Kye Weinzierl, right, runs for 5 yards against Moline's Adrian Cooper on a third-and-7 play late in the first half on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo.
Jackson McAvoy, right, looks for running room but finds none against Moline's Jack Sibley (5) as he is stopped for no gain on fourth down at his own 43-yard line with 47 seconds remaining in the second quarter Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Geneseo.
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