Pretrial Fairness Act – Beyond Ending Money Bond
Chicago Appleseed is a founding member of the Coalition to End Money Bond. Since 2016, we have been pushing criminal justice system decision-makers and our legislators to get rid of the discriminatory, unconstitutional, and ineffective practice of holding people in custody while they await trial. Just a few weeks ago, Governor Pritzker listed ending money bond at the top of his criminal justice agenda, which is a testament to the amazing work Coalition members – including Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers – have done to drive this important issue.
Illinois’ pretrial justice system has been broken for a very long time. The use of money bond is not the only inequity issue in our bond courts. There are huge inconsistencies from county to county as to how bonds are set and how many people are released from custody. Across the state, we process a huge number of felonies through our bond court system, many of which are low-level, non-violent arrests where detention is inappropriate. As a result, in Cook County, decisions about people’s freedom are made in less than two minutes, and are rarely meaningfully reviewed. Meanwhile, the people who are released are subjected to a variety of punitive measures; we issue arrest warrants for all missed court dates, often jailing people who unintentionally miss court because of poverty, transportation issues, or emergencies. When people break these extremely onerous release conditions, we punish them with draconian consecutive sentences that far outweigh the magnitude of the accusation at hand.
Getting rid of money bail, by itself, does not solve all these problems; in fact, any change that only outlaws the use of money bail might make our system even less equitable. Our solution is a comprehensive vision for a just pretrial system, including a bill that will be introduced in the legislature this year, the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA) (sponsored by State Representative Justin Slaughter and Senator Robert Peters).
The Pretrial Fairness Act is a full overhaul of Illinois’ pretrial system. It outlaws money bail, but also reforms the way that judges make decisions about whether to jail a person pretrial. It simplifies the factors judges have to consider (our current law gives them an unmanageable 39 separate factors to consider!) and makes sure that jail pretrial is only used for very serious violent cases, or for people who are able and likely to flee the jurisdiction. The bill also makes sure that judges account for their reasons for detaining people on the record, so that, if needed, appeals judges have the ability to critically examine the proceedings and determine whether they were fair.
At the same time, the Pretrial Fairness Act makes the pretrial system more flexible and efficient. It allows law enforcement to cite and release low-level cases without holding an arrestee overnight for bond court. Under the PFA, judges will have the option to issue a notice, rather than an arrest warrant, when someone fails to appear in court; they can choose not to impose consecutive sentences in every case. Lastly, the bill requires courts – for the first time – to collect and make available data about pretrial court processes, so that the public and the legislature can evaluate the court’s practices to understand what is working well and what is working poorly.
The Illinois pretrial system is long overdue for an overhaul. The Pretrial Fairness Act does not just end money bail, but replaces it with a system that is fair, transparent, and accountable – one that will empty our jails of the thousands and thousands of Illinoisans who have been jailed solely for their poverty.
Join people from across the state for a lobby day and rally at the State Capitol in Springfield on February 25, 2020. The Coalition needs your help to educate legislators about the Pretrial Fairness Act and the need for transformative bond reform. Transportation is available; this is a free event, but you must register to attend.
Sarah Staudt is the Senior Policy Analyst & Staff Attorney for the Chicago Appleseed and Chicago Council of Lawyers Criminal Justice Advisory Committee (CJAC) and is a key team member working on the policy initiatives of the Coalition to End Money Bond.
Stay up-to-date with the status of the Pretrial Fairness Act and learn more about the work of CJAC, including the Coalition to End Money Bond.