Illinois Is First State to Eliminate Cash Bail

Illinois became the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail as a condition of pretrial release from jail on Tuesday when the state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionally of the law abolishing it. The 5-2 ruling overturns a Kankakee County judge's opinion in December that the law violated the constitution's provision that "all persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties." Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis, writing for the majority, decreed that the law honors the constitution's balance between the rights of victims and defendants, the AP reports. Theis ordered that it take effect in 60 days, on Sept. 18. The court challenge had delayed its scheduled Jan. 1 implementation.

Proponents of eliminating cash bail describe it as a penalty on poverty, suggesting that the wealthy can pay their way out of jail to await trial while those in economic distress—particularly people of color—have to sit it out behind bars. A pandemic-era increase in crime spurred debates on bail reforms. While other states and municipalities have enacted changes to cash bail, notably New Jersey, Illinois is the first to abolish it. Instead, judges can decide that a defendant poses too much of a threat to the community to allow release, or that defendant can be released with conditions such as avoiding contact with a particular person or not visiting a certain place, according to the Bail Project .

Critics have argued that bail is a time-honored way to ensure defendants released from jail show up for court proceedings. They warn that violent criminals will be released pending trial, giving them license to commit other crimes. Abolishing bail was part of an expansive criminal justice overhaul adopted in 2021 known as the SAFE-T Act. Gov. JB Pritzker hailed a "transition to a more equitable and just Illinois" Tuesday. "We can now move forward with historic reform to ensure pre-trial detainment is determined by the danger an individual poses to the community instead of by their ability to pay their way out of jail," the Democrat said in a statement. (More Illinois stories.)