VICTORY: Governor Pritzker Abolishes Money Bail by Signing HB 3653 – The SAFE-T Act – into Law
On Monday, February 22, 2021, Governor Pritzker signed HB 3653 SFA2: the SAFE-T (Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity – Today) Act.
The bill was sponsored in the 101st General Assembly by Senator Robert Peters, Senator Elgie Sims, and Representative Justin Slaughter as part of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus’ comprehensive legislative response to anti-Black racial violence after the police killing of George Floyd.
The SAFE-T Act creates reforms in several other areas of the Illinois criminal justice system—many of which Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Chicago Council of Lawyers have long championed, such as:
Police Accountability & Oversight
The SAFE-T Act includes several reforms to Illinois’ policing processes, such as: prohibiting records destruction and retaliation against someone for reporting, cooperating, or testifying against an officer in investigations; removing sworn affidavit requirements from all police collective bargaining agreements; mandating the use of body-warn cameras by all police; and much more.
Right to Accessible Communication
Previously, Illinois law stated that people who have been arrested should generally have access to a phone without one-hour, or whenever is “reasonable.” HB 3653 solidifies the rights of arrested people to communicate with attorneys or family from the police station – free of charge – as soon as possible, but within 3-hours. It also allows people who have been arrested access to retrieve contacts from their cellphone and make at least three calls. Signs must be in place in police stations to inform arrestees of their rights and of the number for an appointed public defender, if applicable.
Restoration of Driving Privileges
With the SAFE-T Act, Illinois will no longer suspend driver’s licenses for unpaid fines and fees from traffic violations and automated camera tickets. This reform builds on the work of the Transit Table Coalition, which advocated for the License to Work Act that eliminated driver’s license suspensions as penalties for unpaid parking tickets and some other non-moving violations in 2020.
People whose driver’s licenses have been suspended, canceled, or prohibited due to failure to pay any fine or penalty for traffic violations and automated speed or red light camera tickets can now have them restored and renewed; the legislation prevents future license holds/suspensions for these violations and unpaid abandoned vehicle fines or fees.
Pretrial Fairness Act
Our collaboration partner, Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, is a founding member of the Coalition to End Money Bond; included in this legislation is the Pretrial Fairness Act, which – along with abolishing money bond – creates a fairer pretrial system by:
- Limiting eligibility for pretrial incarceration;
- Regulating the use of risk assessment tools in pretrial decision-making;
- Authorizing the ability for law enforcement to release people accused of low-level offenses with a ‘ticket’ and notice of court date, instead of unnecessarily jailing people;
- Reducing the penalties for violations of pretrial release conditions;
- Requiring reconsideration of detention and release conditions at each court date;
- Ensuring that people on electronic monitoring (house arrest) are given time credit and movement allowances;
- Reforming the warrant process; and
- Ensuring transparency and oversight through continued data collection and publication.
By signing the SAFE-T Act into law, Governor Pritzker makes Illinois a leader in reforming the historically racist, inequitable, relentlessly punitive policies that plague our criminal justice system
By including the Pretrial Fairness Act in this legislation, we are one step closer to ending the unfair, racist wealth-based punishment mechanisms that exist throughout the court system. This victory is culmination of years of collaborative organizing – led by the Coalition to End Money Bond and the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice – of over 100 different policy organizations, faith-based groups, community activists, advocates against domestic violence and sexual assault, and other organizers.
Over the last several years, thousands of people from across Illinois took action to win this change that many once believed was impossible. The Coalition to End Money Bond and Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice extend our love and gratitude to everyone who helped make this victory a reality for our state. The passage of the Pretrial Fairness Act makes clear that anything is possible when communities organize together to resist racism and systemic inequity.
COALITION TO END MONEY BOND (FEBRUARY 22, 2021)
Most of the provisions in the SAFE-T Act go into effect in 2022 – with the exception of the abolition of money bail, which will take effect on January 1, 2023.